I saw this movie having seen all the hype and I'm not sure where it drew all its great reviews from.
Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad movie, but it's not terribly great. I had that vague sense of relief at the end you get when a movie has outstayed its welcome.
To be fair, I saw a version that was over-dubbed rather than subtitled and I think that affected the mood quite a bit. A number of the overdubbed voices were sort of gross, cartoonish, caricatured voices that really seemed calculated for farce value. Along with some of the more ridiculous comedy scenes, this left it with a strange sense of not really knowing whether I should be laughing or crying when various characters got killed. The dumb father character, for instance, was so stupid as to be unsympathetic - which is tough because it was his daughter who was missing.
I think though, the mood is exactly what the makers were aiming for - it felt early Godzilla-esquire in its mix of solid if garish creature-feature fare and slightly off balance humour. I don't think I really *got* it, but I expect I might get more out of it after a few beers.
One thing I really did like were the visuals. Although the monster manages most of the time to look like a guy in a rubber suit, even thought its CGI, it works pretty well against the urban landscape, which often looked stunning. The director showed a lot of style and certainly wasn't afraid to try some interesting angles. I bet this would be great on a big screen.
Overall, kind of dumb, but certainly worth watching on an off night.
Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad movie, but it's not terribly great. I had that vague sense of relief at the end you get when a movie has outstayed its welcome.
To be fair, I saw a version that was over-dubbed rather than subtitled and I think that affected the mood quite a bit. A number of the overdubbed voices were sort of gross, cartoonish, caricatured voices that really seemed calculated for farce value. Along with some of the more ridiculous comedy scenes, this left it with a strange sense of not really knowing whether I should be laughing or crying when various characters got killed. The dumb father character, for instance, was so stupid as to be unsympathetic - which is tough because it was his daughter who was missing.
I think though, the mood is exactly what the makers were aiming for - it felt early Godzilla-esquire in its mix of solid if garish creature-feature fare and slightly off balance humour. I don't think I really *got* it, but I expect I might get more out of it after a few beers.
One thing I really did like were the visuals. Although the monster manages most of the time to look like a guy in a rubber suit, even thought its CGI, it works pretty well against the urban landscape, which often looked stunning. The director showed a lot of style and certainly wasn't afraid to try some interesting angles. I bet this would be great on a big screen.
Overall, kind of dumb, but certainly worth watching on an off night.