I can understand why Colossal has not been funded by a major studio, as I couldn’t imagine a film with such a bizarre premise getting green-lit on the basis of the pitch that would have been made.
Anne Hathaway plays Gloria. Struggling to get her life together after losing her job, she is drinking and partying far too much. When her frustrated boyfriend Tim (Dan Stevens) throws her out of his flat, she returns to her small hometown to stay in her empty family home. A chance meeting with an ex-school friend Oscar (Jason Sudeikis) leads to Gloria getting a job in Oscar’s bar and a rekindling of their friendship. So, the set-up is for a standard indie rom-com with Gloria having to choose between uptight Tim and laid-back Oscar.
However, everyones’ attention becomes focused on events thousands of miles away in Soeul, South Korea, when a monster starts terrorising the city. Gloria soon realises that she is somehow controlling the creature and the fate of the entire city lies in her hands. Though it sounds totally ridiculous, the film holds up until almost the end. That is helped in part by Director Nacho Vigalondo’s screenplay which grounds the events in just enough reality to allow the viewers to go along with the more outlandish aspects of the plot.
More significantly are the performances from Hathaway and especially Sudeikis. He is an actor who has given glimpses of a real talent in his knockabout comedy roles and now this is a real break out performance from him. Utterly charming in the opening stages, but with demons from his past bubbling under the surface that cause a shift in his character later on, Sudeikis handles the transitions brilliantly.
Things do fall apart as the film reaches its climax, but it does remain enjoyable all the same.
Rating: 7 out of 10