1 Year 100 Reviews — Colossal
AN ENORMOUSLY SMALL STORY

Normally, this paragraph is where I would write some spiel that serves to contextualize the review that follows. I’m not gonna do that this time. Instead, I am going to use this space to say this: this is a really good movie and you should watch it with as little knowledge going in. Trailers spoil it, reviews spoil it, even the dang poster spoils it. Just try and watch it only knowing that it is called Colossal and it is gonna be a good time.
Everything from here on out assume you followed my advice above, so spoilers are totally on the table. You have been warned.
That was a really fun movie, huh? I wonder where on earth the idea came from. I just love that Colossal is a movie that’s ostensibly about kaiju attacks in Seoul Korea where the monsters are by far the least interesting part of the movie. I spent so much time trying to figure out what the main tension was going to be that I almost missed what was going on. I was expecting the whole thing to be some metaphor or lead to some major revelation. Instead, it was a much better decision to keep the stakes small-ish (at least, small for the people we follow. Obviously, the stakes were huge for the poor people of Seoul).
Anne Hathaway was amazing in this. Like, that performance was so natural that I almost saw it like I was watching some reality show instead of a narrative film. Her decisions as an actor were the epitome of organic. I didn’t like how oblivious she was at moments. Like, I didn’t buy that anyone could forget they were at a friend’s mother’s funeral no matter how self-centered they are.
Of course Jason Sudeikis was being super Sudeikis-y, but I loved how they were able to turn that quality from charming to contemptible on a dime. I like him a lot as a villain. I just wonder if he is capable of acting in any other way than Sudeikis-y.
I do kind of wish there was a little more humor in this movie. Especially once Sudeikis turns evil, the comedy aspect of the film almost disappears entirely. Sure, the overly-dramatic music cues help maintain the not-too-serious tone, but the first half of the movie balanced comedy and drama so much better.
I really loved this movie. I am definitely going to buy it once it is available for home purchase. This is going into my rotation of fun movies to show people. I don’t even care that this review hardly looks or feels like one; I just want to gush about this movie. I really wish it got more press when it came out. It deserved better.