Following the wave of popularity of monster movies like Transformers, Circle of Fire or even Power Rangers, Spanish director Nacho Vigalondo created Colossal, a film that has gained support from major film festivals like Sundance, something very rare for such longs. This can be explained by his unusual focus and the way he develops his main character, played by Anne Hathaway.
Colossal tells the story of Gloria, an alcoholic who can not live a regulated life. Unhappy with the situation, her boyfriend drives Gloria away from home until she can get the drink out. Gloria then decides to return to her small hometown, where she meets the mysterious childhood friend Oscar, played by Jason Sudeikis. Oscar seems to be in love with Gloria, but has an obsessive way of dealing with the girl: while she obeys him, he is a sweet person, but when he does not get what he wants, he becomes unstable. Anyway, he gives her a job at his bar, where Gloria can not get any booze.
This is where things start to become stranger. After waking up with a strong hangover, Gloria turns on the television and sees a giant monster attacking Seoul in South Korea. More interestingly, the monster’s body movements seem to be the same as Gloria’s. The protagonist, then, realizes that this is not a coincidence: the monster that appears in the city reflects his actions. Worse, Oscar also has his own monster, which comes with all the psychological problems of the character, and who becomes opponent of Gloria’s monster.
The film can be seen as a metaphor – after all Gloria quickly learns that her actions as an alcoholic, and as a monster, can hurt people drastically. However, what draws the most attention is that the story is developed according to a feminine look, which comes in sharp contrast to films of the genre. So, even if Gloria has problems with the drink, she still decides many things for herself and without apologizing: for example, she sleeps with a man just because she thinks he is cute and does not demean to her old boyfriend. In this way, the film does not appeal to the same public of Transformers. It is even interesting that, even with all the special effects, Vigalondo manages to keep Colossal in the same category as any independent film at Sundance, often even looking to play tricks and mock the festival’s dramatic style.
Although the film deserves to be praised for its creative focus, especially against so many remakes without much originality that have debuted in recent times, it also has problems. To begin with, science fiction or fantasy films, even when characterized as comedy, need to define very well the rules of their universe, so that the public can participate in history effectively. However, Colossal introduces new ideas and changes rules throughout the entire film, making it difficult to follow the film.
Still, Colossal can entertain quite if understood as a simple, and unusual, comedy seen by a feminine focus. This film premieres in Brazil on 04/27.
(article translated from the original version in portuguese, by Google Translate)