Colossal (2017)

Colossal is a trip. Like last year's Swiss Army Man, the idea is just a bit crazy and you have to just sort of go along for the ride, but it is what the story ends up doing which makes it so fascinating. Colossal may not totally work all the way through but mostly it does and it's one hell of an enjoyable film. A warning though as it also gets extremely dark, exploring themes of abuse, control, and domestic violence.

The plot: a kaiju creature (for those who don't know, think Godzilla) is terrorizing Seoul when a woman on the other side of the world (America) discovers that the creature is mimicking her actions, that in a way she is inadvertently controlling it. Yes I know. That's the gimmick. The rest is about how she is struggling with a number of relationships which border on abusive. Colossal is about her struggle for autonomy in a culture which values women's subservience. Got all that?

So going in knowing much about the story isn't really important or even advisable. The best thing to do is just go in knowing you're watching something that isn't like anything else you'll see. Also know you're in for a treat. Colossal may occasionally collapse under the weight of its own conceit but overall it is a success, mostly because of the cast the writer/director Nacho Vigalondo's penchant for dark humour.

Anne Hathaway knocks this out of the park. Her character is a difficult one to pull off, not because the character is that complex, but because of the unreal world she finds herself in while navigating very real world issues. Her Gloria is an everywoman, stuck in the microagressions that every woman deals with, self-medicating a bit, and finally liberating herself, becoming the hero she needs to be for herself (as well as Seoul).  She brings an air of effortlessness and honesty to Gloria. She does real things, smart things, dumb things, honest things, and she makes us get her. Her very last moment is remarkably funny and heartfelt.

Jason Sudeikis is also strong in a role that could also have been one dimensional but he brings a terrible darkness to it. I found him terrifyingly pitiful by the end of the film and a great deal of that is how well he makes Oscar's motivations real. I loved how Colossal also gives us Tim, played by Dan Stevens, who, while not evil, is also a great deconstruction of what's wrong with the male ego in the western world.

There is a great deal about Colossal which is absurd, that's the point. Some of it doesn't work but a lot of it does. Hathaway works well giving a hilarious and profound performance in a very entertaining movie.

Colossal
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis, Tim Stevens, Austin Stowell, Tim Blake Nelson
Writer/Director: Nacho Vigalondo