I’ve been over-the-moon psyched for
Colossal every since hearing the words “Nacho Vigalondo” and
“giant monster movie” in the same sentence. Then the Spanish director put
together a top-tier cast—Anne Hathaway, who I’m meh about, and Dan Stevens, who
I’m very, very not meh about. Word out of the TIFF premiere last fall confirmed
my excitement was justified, and the first trailer is right in my wheelhouse.
This trailer for Colossal is also right
in Nacho Vigalondo’s wheelhouse. It may be a kaiju movie, but it’s not your
average kaiju movie. Thus far in his career, he’s put his own spin on time
travel movies, with Timecrimes; on crime thrillers, with
Open Windows; and on the alien invasion narrative, with Extraterrestrial.
Now he’s tackling another subgenre this time out.
Sure, there’s a giant monster stomping through Seoul, but
this isn’t Godzilla. After Gloria (Anne Hathaway) loses her
job, and her boyfriend (Dan Stevens) dumps her, she moves from New York back to
her home town where she hangs out with a couple of deadbeat friends (Jason
Sudeikis and Tim Blake Nelson). When an enormous creature materializes over
South Korea and starts wrecking up the joint, she discovers she’s connected to
the beast and that there’s a direct link between the monster and her emotional
state. See, told you this wasn’t your average creature feature.
Colossal looks weird and funny, and if I
thought I was excited before, now my anticipation is running even hotter.
Nacho Vigalondo has been talking about making a kaiju movie
for years. Originally he wanted it to be a guy-in-a-rubber-suit-style feature.
Not only that, he wanted to be the guy in the suit. What we see definitely
looks a few steps above that, but that’s where he’s coming from, which is
promising, and it’s nice to see his vision finally appear.
An at-the-time unknown company picked up the distribution
rights to Colossal shortly after it debuted. That turned out
to be NEON, a new venture from Alamo Drafthouse’s Tim League and RADiUS’ Tom Quinn,
folks who know their shit. Colossal is NEON’s first release,
and it sounds like a doozy.
It’s screens today at Sundance if you’re fortunate enough to
be there (though if you are, I doubt you’re reading this). Fortunately for the rest
of us, Colossal is set to stomp through theaters starting on
April 7, so we don’t have too long to wait. (And in the meantime, we’ll have
Kong: Skull Island to sate our giant, rampaging monster
appetites.)
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