An unconventional sequel to an unconventional film, this works as a standalone picture with its own distinctive take on alien invasion but also expands what now seem like a franchise with potential to deliver more and varied snapshots of human behaviour in extreme circumstances.
Ambitiously staged and impressively shot, Monsters: Dark Continent makes a bold stab at mounting a franchise but lacks the vision and surprise of its predecessor.
The highly successful 2010 film 'Monsters' saw the arrival of giant tentacled monsters to Earth. It's sequel 'Monsters: Dark Continent' has five army men in a Middle East war zone who are attempting to deal with an insurgency, and dealing with these monsters as well. It's explosive and ****.
The monsters have now spread worldwide, and in the middle east a new war has begun, and at the same time there has been an increase of monsters in that region - which is called the Infected Zone. The army has brought in many new recruits to deal with both the insurgency and to help kill the monster population. Four of the recruits, all from Detroit, Michigan, and all best friends, are given a special mission: to rescue soldiers who have been lost in the Infected Zone. It's the men's first tour of duty, and for Michael (Sam Keeley), Frankie (Joe Dempsie), Inkelaar (Kyle Soller), and Williams (Parker Sawyers), they must also deal with the monsters while at the same time battling the enemy. They are all excited, yet extremely nervous to be part of this mission, especially Williams as he has become a new father. Their assignment gets all the more intense when they meet their commanding office Frater (Johnny Harris), a veteran of nine tours and a hard core military man, who is estranged from his family. Michael is the most impressionable, and youngest of the bunch, he's totally stunned and shocked when he sees the monsters for the first time from the helicopter him and his crew arrive on. It's a stunning sight, seeing those monsters while the army's fighter planes dropping bombs on them.
They men are these for a mission, to search for some soldiers who have gone missing. So thus begins their journey into the unknown, fearful not just of the enemy, but also of the monsters. They encounter IED's (Improvised Explosive Devices), which kill a couple of the men, while seriously injuring Williams. But their journey has just begun, not all of them survive. They must put up with sniper fire, being captured and interrogated, escaping and enduring long and brutal journeys in the desert where they encounter dead bodies in a school bus, and at the same time staying way clear of the monsters. The monsters, huge, with very large tentacled hands and face, are a scary backdrop to a film that makes it clear that fighting a war in enemy territory is scary enough.
Tom Green, making his directorial debut (he previously had directed episodes of the television programme Misfits, which starred Keeley), and Executive Producer Gareth Edwards (who wrote and directed the first 'Monsters' film) have created a film that is both scary and stunning. War is brutal enough, but they expose us to the deadly silence of not just the enemy but also of the monsters. As soldiers who must carry on, all the actors are brilliant. Harris as commanding officer Frater is brilliant - he truly wants to go back home to be reunited with his father but he's a staunch army man who must complete his mission. Keeley as Michael is the film's heart and soul - he's being exposed to the world and this is it: his innocence is being taken away from him, he goes from being a young man to a hardened soldier. From the dessert landscape to the deserted villages, from the lush scenery and sunsets to the terrifying appearance of the monsters, 'Monsters: Dark Continent' is a sight to behold. And the music, by Neil Davidge, adds an acute tenseness to the film. 'Monster: Dark Continent' is bone-chillingly scary and beautiful at the same time.
Whatever the filmmakers' subtextual intentions may be, the film certainly gets stronger and more compelling as it goes on, thanks in part to intense emoting on the part of its cast, with Harris, Keeley and especially Soller standing out particularly.
Though the sequel features far more footage of the giant beasts, including a spectacular nighttime scene in which one of the bioluminescent creatures ejects phosphorescent spores into the desert sky, the story remains stubbornly focused on relatively uninteresting human concerns.
Whereas the original "Monsters" was a road movie about an odd couple fleeing an alien-infested zone, "Dark Continent" cribs from contemporary war movies like "The Hurt Locker" and "American Sniper," then tosses in extraterrestrials as an afterthought.
A sour, tedious and derivative film that doesn't just prove disappointing in its own right, it actively makes us resent the first film retroactively for inspiring it.
Here, the monsters are entirely incidental to the story. Instead we are forced to sit through 119 punishing minutes of what plays like a dorm-room answer to modern war films, complete with the constant profanity and masculine hysterics that pass for impact in an immature script.
Monsters: Dark Continent was pretty good. Good story telling and story line. The directing is not so good I really don't know what the director was trying to do in some of the scenes but other than that I enjoyed it. It would have been better if they would have spent more on the "Monsters" plot.
I cant think of many movie sequels that have left me feeling this conflicted. So positives because its not the worse thing you will subject yourself to, the film is beautifully shot, the pacing is good, the action is reasonable and all in all its a well made film.
The not so positives, some how its all a bit boring. I still cant figure out why exactly but I just didn't quite care enough about any of the main characters to notice when they weren't there anymore. Maybe just one two many wide eyed shots of people losing their cool on the battle field. Not to say this isnt what actually happens in war but it felt a little over done.
The plot itself is a bit cliche middle eastern war film so that doesnt really help things any further which leads me to my last points.
The absolute negatives. Why the hell is this movie called Monsters: Dark Continent, the monsters are so under utilized they may as well not be there, if you have seen the first film you will undoubtedly be wondering the same thing, this isnt a movie about monsters its a movie about a war in Afghanistan and there just happens to be a whole heaps of giant aliens roaming around minding their own business, doing their thing. I can only assume that this an attempt at trying to pull a cloverfield type "Hey this is all happening in the same universe" type of film but good lord it just doesn't feel like the movie would be any different if you swapped the monsters for Camels.
All in all, if you feel you have to watch because you watched the first one you are probably going to be disappointed, if you are looking for a monster film might i suggest Godzilla or the aforementioned cloverfield.
Fighting terrorist in the midst of monsters invasion.
I am surprised for the production quality. It was comparable to those big productions, so no doubt the visuals played its part accurately. Then what makes this film bad? Well, the story is the biggest issue here. It is a confusion screenplay, not for the viewers, but seems for the writers. Looks they don't know how to develop and end it with their decent opening. It was more focused on the military operation than conflict between the man and the monsters. How come when monsters taking over the earth is not considered a threat, but fighting terrorism becomes the main preference. The same thing applies to the terrorists as well.
No way near to the original. In fact, I don't know is it appropriate to tag it as a sequel to a film that earned a decent fame. The title says 'Dark Continent', but it takes place in the middle-east. Maybe it was the northern Africa, anyway, there's no clear picture about the location. This is the director's first feature film, but it was not a bad direction. The actors did decently as well and again, it is the story that bothered me. I feel it is an unnecessary sequel, so I say don't bother to watch it, because it is not worth, unless you can take a chance to find yourself how bad it is.
3.5/10
Simple and unnecessary, Monsters: Dark Continent is an enlargement of a story that did not need it, its attempt of drama with the element of the aliens, only confuses and never fulfills the aspect that promises.
This movie is horrible. I actually watched it through to the end, mistakenly thinking it had to get better. I was wrong. Besides the strangely disjointed 'emotional' moments, there is virtually nothing in the movie involving its namesake, the Monsters. The so-called story is pretty much just a few scenes taken from much better war movies. At one point in the movie, a wound actually changes sides on the actor's body, which tells me they didn't even have anyone paying attention during editing. Unless you want to watch something even more boring than reality TV, give this one a pass.