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Colossal - Anyone seen it?

Syriel

Member
So this film seems to have flown under my radar by quite a bit.

Saw the trailer recently and it looks intriguing.

Basic premise is that a woman gets blackout drunk one night after getting dumped. She wakes up in the morning to news that a monster (Godzilla sized) is wandering around Seoul. World is in awe, and she realizes that the monster's movements mimic her.

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqcZtz8VXXE

So, what say you GAF? Worth getting on Blu?
 
Saw it at the Dartmouth film society. It's pretty good, don't go into expecting huge monster action or anything, it's really more of a quirky indie about a woman basically trying to "find herself" in a fun sort of way. Sudeikis is even great as her asshole of a friend. I'd definitely recommend it, it's not for everyone though.
 

Syriel

Member
Quirky indie works as long as it's well made. I enjoyed Safety Not Guaranteed.

The part of the trailer that hooked me was her showing off to her friends, with the whole "What was that?," "A helicopter," "With the pilot and everything?" exchange.
 
Was excited to see it based on reviews/reactions but I struggled to finish it... Found it boring and pretty bad overall. Guess it wasn't for me!
 
Quirky indie works as long as it's well made. I enjoyed Safety Not Guaranteed.

The part of the trailer that hooked me was her showing off to her friends, with the whole "What was that?," "A helicopter," "With the pilot and everything?" exchange.

Yeah that's part of a good scene actually, as well.
 

Sparse

Member
Went in knowing little about it. Loved it. Fucking amazing. I'm shocked that someone took a risk on it, and I'm glad they did.
 

Certinty

Member
Good movie. Just judging from the trailers I can't say that is what I expected. Expected a comedy, got something far darker.
 

Shaanyboi

Banned
Really enjoyed it. The trailers were really misleading about the tone, but it was better for it. The "reveal" about how this all started is really needless and ineffective, but the characters are solid.
 

Syriel

Member
Stop reading anything about it and watch it. If you liked Safety Not Guaranteed, you'll like it.

Sounds like a plan. Initial responses in here seem to be pro so I'll probably snag the disc when it drops next month, but I'm going to bail out of the thread now before more people start talking about twists, reveals, and potential spoilers. :)

Thanks for the feedback all. It was helpful.
 

Falchion

Member
I really wanted to see it but I missed it during the theatrical run. Excited to catch it when it comes out at home though.
 

Fury451

Banned
This is not at all what you think it's going to be. I think that is good, but it's not a quirky indie romance and I'll leave it at that.
 
I loved it and didnt expect thing to go the way they went in this movie.



What problemssssss?

sorry took me a while to reply ; __ ; that meeting took longer than i thought it would ; __ ;

ok! so i went into colossal blind. i did'nt know what it was going to be and i was pretty keen to like it. in general, it wasnt a bad flick, but i came away feeling slightly frowny :<

to start off, im usually a sucker for movies that puts women character as front and center, since im a woman myself and i think women needs better roles (more complex and more human being like) in movies / general popular media.
but i feel that colossal pandered too much. and it was an odd sensation to me that i got from the movie. idk why but i felt as if none of the male characters was given any room NOT to fail. so, the childhood friend was obviously turned out to be a bad guy, and that was okay, of course, but say, her boyfriend was framed as someone who seemed as if he was a bit unreasonable with his expectations for her. (not sure if others get the same feeling) the movie came across trying to tell that he was a control freak that had been waiting for her to fail at being separated from him? (tell me if i am reading things differently than you / others!)

at the beginning, anne's character tried to lie? to her bf and then once he had left, her party friends came in to actually show that she did lie to him?

but on top of that, the other guy she had slept with, also was framed as someone who could not stand up to the baddie guy even after they had been intimate together. he was shown as being a neutral by-stander as the baddie guy went completely psycho and was, in some way, unavailable as someone she could count on. so, that's three male characters which is really almost all of the male characters in the movie that, i feel, made the movie stilted for me.

additionally, they escalated the third act inelegantly, i think? like, to me, they seem to demonize the baddie childhood friend very rapidly, even though SHE too had probably killed some innocents herself, but the movie made it seem as if the korean people suddenly turn to her side. it was done a bit too easily, for my liking.

however, i DID like the performances in the movie. the way the movie presented the baddie childhood friend's progression from 'looks like a nice dude' to 'omg psycho!' was really nicely done. i also like that anne's character felt convincingly like a person. the way she hooked up with the guy she slept with was cute :> so there's parts that i appreciate, but yes, those are my impressions for the movie.
 

Sesuadra

Unconfirmed Member
sorry took me a while to reply ; __ ; that meeting took longer than i thought it would ; __ ;

ok! so i went into colossal blind. i did'nt know what it was going to be and i was pretty keen to like it. in general, it wasnt a bad flick, but i came away feeling slightly frowny :<

to start off, im usually a sucker for movies that puts women character as front and center, since im a woman myself and i think women needs better roles (more complex and more human being like) in movies / general popular media.
but i feel that colossal pandered too much. and it was an odd sensation to me that i got from the movie. idk why but i felt as if none of the male characters was given any room NOT to fail. so, the childhood friend was obviously turned out to be a bad guy, and that was okay, of course, but say, her boyfriend was framed as someone who seemed as if he was a bit unreasonable with his expectations for her. (not sure if others get the same feeling) the movie came across trying to tell that he was a control freak that had been waiting for her to fail at being separated from him? (tell me if i am reading things differently than you / others!)

at the beginning, anne's character tried to lie? to her bf and then once he had left, her party friends came in to actually show that she did lie to him?

but on top of that, the other guy she had slept with, also was framed as someone who could not stand up to the baddie guy even after they had been intimate together. he was shown as being a neutral by-stander as the baddie guy went completely psycho and was, in some way, unavailable as someone she could count on. so, that's three male characters which is really almost all of the male characters in the movie that, i feel, made the movie stilted for me.

additionally, they escalated the third act inelegantly, i think? like, to me, they seem to demonize the baddie childhood friend very rapidly, even though SHE too had probably killed some innocents herself, but the movie made it seem as if the korean people suddenly turn to her side. it was done a bit too easily, for my liking.

however, i DID like the performances in the movie. the way the movie presented the baddie childhood friend's progression from 'looks like a nice dude' to 'omg psycho!' was really nicely done. i also like that anne's character felt convincingly like a person. the way she hooked up with the guy she slept with was cute :> so there's parts that i appreciate, but yes, those are my impressions for the movie.

well, you just made me decide to not watch it >>
 
Finally got to see this after picking up the last Blu-ray copy from Best Buy.

Absolutely loved it. Great premise, with some absolutely fantastic performances from Hathaway and especially Sudeikis, though the other two friends are underdeveloped. The major shift in tone in the second half reminded me a bit of Temple of Doom, though was pulled off much more naturally here. The finale in Seoul was perfect.


additionally, they escalated the third act inelegantly, i think? like, to me, they seem to demonize the baddie childhood friend very rapidly, even though SHE too had probably killed some innocents herself, but the movie made it seem as if the korean people suddenly turn to her side. it was done a bit too easily, for my liking.

I kind of agree; I was actually expecting the film to delve a bit deeper into this aspect. It IS made clear that Gloria initially thinks the whole thing is a game until she trips and falls in the playground and is immediately remorseful; whereas Oscar gleefully engages in the destruction and threatens to continue it every night for kicks.
 
Finally got to see this after picking up the last Blu-ray copy from Best Buy.

Absolutely loved it. Great premise, with some absolutely fantastic performances from Hathaway and especially Sudeikis, though the other two friends are underdeveloped. The major shift in tone in the second half reminded me a bit of Temple of Doom, though was pulled off much more naturally here. The finale in Seoul was perfect.




I kind of agree; I was actually expecting the film to delve a bit deeper into this aspect. It IS made clear that Gloria initially thinks the whole thing is a game until she trips and falls in the playground and is immediately remorseful; whereas Oscar gleefully engages in the destruction and threatens to continue it every night for kicks.

yes, she's shown to be not a psycho :> but just the korean people's response to it was a little .... unconvincing (for me)
 
I really enjoyed it. It felt like it took the core theme of going back to ones hometown, and what it means to go out in the world vs. being sort of perpetually in the obscurity of your small town. Questions about what the world owes us, what our friends owe us, and how life and out ambitions make us bitter or hopeful.

And then it somehow, seemingly impossibly, weaved a kaiju angle into that expertly. It felt pretty emotionally honest while embracing a super creative slant to the whole thing. Some quibbles about how characters turn good-to-bad or the repercussions of their actions aside, it was really really good.
 
Enjoyed the hell out of it..didn't see that weird twist coming. I will say, the wife and I were kinda thrown off with her boyfriend being so nice and cuddly..kept thinking about The Guest every time he was on the screen lol..
 

jb1234

Member
I enjoyed it. Darker than I expected. Hathaway, Sudeikis and Bear McCreary's score all deserve recognition.
 

Zakalwe

Banned
Silly film, but I enjoyed it. As others have said, the tone (in the final third at least) was a bit unexpected based on the trailers.

I think the slightly darker aspects make it work much better than if it had been a straighter comedy or whatever the trailers seemed to offer.
 
yes, she's shown to be not a psycho :> but just the korean people's response to it was a little .... unconvincing (for me)

Well, she does write out that apology message in the sand and follows it up by actively trying to defend the city from Robo-Oscar -- which is enough to at least convince people that they aren't on the same side. Considering their nightly appearances start attracting tourists and even develop fan clubs, I didn't think them preferring one over the other was too much of a stretch.
 
Enjoyed the hell out of it..didn't see that weird twist coming. I will say, the wife and I were kinda thrown off with her boyfriend being so nice and cuddly..kept thinking about The Guest every time he was on the screen lol..

omg this is me also XD

@ pirate space,
i can understand where you're coming from ! i just wasn't particularly convinced of the ease of which the korean people completely back her up, but it's all good and fine if others can get on board that narrative pivoting and enjoyed it :> for me, i wanted a little bit more drama, depth and internal conflicts to have been portrayed in the movie. but all good, people can have different take :>
 
I was surprised that I didn't enjoy it.

Expected some laughs. Didn't really see much in the way of humour. The stuff that I felt more or less ruined things was:

- The premise on how this all came to be possible was just dumb.

- Sedeikis turning from a nice guy into a total jerk was a bit TOO ugly and too real.

- The protagonist was a complete unpredictable mess, and kind of hard to like.

And this is the most minor, silly point of all - but in my line of work I tend to notice these minor details. The wig that they had Hathaway wear was terrible, did not fit her well, and quite obviously a wig. It just looked completely silly, like a costume wig of poor quality.

Would not watch again. And I really dig Anne Hathaway, so was hoping I'd like this movie. I really didn't.
 

Alastor3

Member
I just saw it.

It's a love/hate relationship for me.

As much as I love the premise (not how the power came to be but how it was limited by time (im guessing 1 min?) and place (the park)) and I love some of the evolution of the characters.

As much as I hate the bad guy, I thought, at the middle of the movie when Gloria was crying on the floor and he bought her food, he said he brought her food, like nothing happened in the park, and I thought
it was bad acting until we understand later that he is a broken mind.

Anyway, I really really hate the plots holes tho...

1)
They never talked about the fact that there was only two big monsters (Gloria and Sedeikis) and never their other friends, they didn't find it odd?

2) The fact that Gloria had a scar and always touched herself on the head but yet, Sedeikis had nothing when he was stuck by lightnight?

3) Some of the writing is really really....bad, also that scene at the bar when Sedeikis was shitting on everyone, why doesn't Anne just said, yeah I slept with him, what's the big deal?

4) I thought the place where the monster spawned was limited by the Sandbox but yet, at the end, when Sedeikis tried to run from Anne, you can clearly see he's not in it, why does he still appear in Seoul?

5) The people in seoul.... I mean COME ON there giants monsters spawning in your city and the city isn't evacuated?????????? Just.... why.....
 
It's funny, this movie turned out exactly the way I expected it to. It was good though. Sudeikis really nailed his role.
The escalation of him being a pure villain worked for me because that's basically what he always was. The signs were there early on that he was a possessive, jealous, creepy, alcoholic that presented himself as a typical "niceguy". The kind that we always see in those threads about assholes on Tinder. He's the guy that when rejected will throw paragraphs of insults back at the person he was hoping to land a date with all while saying "girls only date assholes and nice guys like me finish last."
Hathaway was good as well, and I'm glad she took a role like this. I echo the complaint that the friends were an afterthought in the second half, especially Tim Blake Nelson who just disappeared.
 
I thought it was awful. Nothing any of the characters do seems to make any kind of sense. I was confused all the way through, and so was the friend I was watching with.

They act like the MC is just misunderstood or whatever, but she's not. She's just an awful person. Her boyfriend seems totally reasonable for kicking her out. She doesn't care about what he thinks and leeches off of him. When they try to make the boyfriend out as some asshole later on, it just doesn't work because of this.

When she gets to her old town, she runs into this young guy and immediately starts hitting on him. Is that normal behaviour for her? Seems that way. So she's not just self-centered, she cheats too. All the bad stuff that happens to her feels justified then.
Then, when he tries to kiss her after taking the bait, she pulls away. Everyone in the room is either confused or concerned. A day later she goes to his house and has sex with him anyway. Huh?

Same thing when her childhood friend, the one who gave her her job, asks her to clean up something in the bar or whatever. They act like that request is insane, but it's not. Do as he tells you, he pays you for it. Yeah, after she kind of hestitates for no reason the other guy offers to do it, and things get weird fast, but what triggered this situation makes no sense.

As has been said, all the male characters in this movie are shit on for no actual reason. Then we're supposed to relate to the MC but she's an ass. They all make idiotic decisions. As if it's that hard to stay away from a playground. I don't get it.

And then things go fast all of a sudden. Despite being reasonable (regarding the kaiju thing at least), her childhood friend is suddenly turned into a bad guy (though he obviously has some mental issues) and then she just straight up kills him with her kaiju form in a scene that doesn't make any sense even within the rules set in the movie. Okay then? Then at the end we come full circle and find out that the MC hasn't learned a damn thing and will continue being a drunk.

Maybe I'm just stupid. Maybe that's why I don't understand these characters. I don't know, but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.
 
I thought it was awful. Nothing any of the characters do seems to make any kind of sense. I was confused all the way through, and so was the friend I was watching with.

They act like the MC is just misunderstood or whatever, but she's not. She's just an awful person. Her boyfriend seems totally reasonable for kicking her out. She doesn't care about what he thinks and leeches off of him. When they try to make the boyfriend out as some asshole later on, it just doesn't work because of this.

When she gets to her old town, she runs into this young guy and immediately starts hitting on him. Is that normal behaviour for her? Seems that way. So she's not just self-centered, she cheats too. All the bad stuff that happens to her feels justified then.
Then, when he tries to kiss her after taking the bait, she pulls away. Everyone in the room is either confused or concerned. A day later she goes to his house and has sex with him anyway. Huh?

Same thing when her childhood friend, the one who gave her her job, asks her to clean up something in the bar or whatever. They act like that request is insane, but it's not. Do as he tells you, he pays you for it. Yeah, after she kind of hestitates for no reason the other guy offers to do it, and things get weird fast, but what triggered this situation makes no sense.

As has been said, all the male characters in this movie are shit on for no actual reason. Then we're supposed to relate to the MC but she's an ass. They all make idiotic decisions. As if it's that hard to stay away from a playground. I don't get it.

And then things go fast all of a sudden. Despite being reasonable (regarding the kaiju thing at least), her childhood friend is suddenly turned into a bad guy (though he obviously has some mental issues) and then she just straight up kills him with her kaiju form in a scene that doesn't make any sense even within the rules set in the movie. Okay then? Then at the end we come full circle and find out that the MC hasn't learned a damn thing and will continue being a drunk.

Maybe I'm just stupid. Maybe that's why I don't understand these characters. I don't know, but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.
You are not wrong. The movie is full of flaws and requires leaps of logic to be made in order to understand and enjoy most of it, but this is why it never worked for me. Would not recommend to anyone.
 

Alastor3

Member
I thought it was awful. Nothing any of the characters do seems to make any kind of sense. I was confused all the way through, and so was the friend I was watching with.

They act like the MC is just misunderstood or whatever, but she's not. She's just an awful person. Her boyfriend seems totally reasonable for kicking her out. She doesn't care about what he thinks and leeches off of him. When they try to make the boyfriend out as some asshole later on, it just doesn't work because of this.

When she gets to her old town, she runs into this young guy and immediately starts hitting on him. Is that normal behaviour for her? Seems that way. So she's not just self-centered, she cheats too. All the bad stuff that happens to her feels justified then.
Then, when he tries to kiss her after taking the bait, she pulls away. Everyone in the room is either confused or concerned. A day later she goes to his house and has sex with him anyway. Huh?

Same thing when her childhood friend, the one who gave her her job, asks her to clean up something in the bar or whatever. They act like that request is insane, but it's not. Do as he tells you, he pays you for it. Yeah, after she kind of hestitates for no reason the other guy offers to do it, and things get weird fast, but what triggered this situation makes no sense.

As has been said, all the male characters in this movie are shit on for no actual reason. Then we're supposed to relate to the MC but she's an ass. They all make idiotic decisions. As if it's that hard to stay away from a playground. I don't get it.

And then things go fast all of a sudden. Despite being reasonable (regarding the kaiju thing at least), her childhood friend is suddenly turned into a bad guy (though he obviously has some mental issues) and then she just straight up kills him with her kaiju form in a scene that doesn't make any sense even within the rules set in the movie. Okay then? Then at the end we come full circle and find out that the MC hasn't learned a damn thing and will continue being a drunk.

Maybe I'm just stupid. Maybe that's why I don't understand these characters. I don't know, but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

to be fair, it does make sense.

Yes, she lie, cheat, and does stupid thing and her life just keep spiraling down with beer, that IS the purpose of the character.

I mean, I hated the character and the good guy/bad guy in the movie, not because they didn't make sense, They do make sense because that's HOW their characters was meant to be.

When the guy was shitting on everyone at the bar, it was very cringeworthy at first,
because you are not used to seeing a good guy getting mad, but later you understand that he is just insane, it's not bad acting or bad directing, it's the way his character is supose to act.

I understand you hate the characters like me, but it's not because they are poorly written but it's because of your valors, because you probably hate those kind of people in real life that it made you so mad.
 
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