Not Enough Monsters

A simple lesson for future filmmakers: Do not title your film "Monsters" if you choose not to concentrate on the monsters. For some reason, director Gareth Edwards chooses to turn a promising excursion through extraterrestrial occupation into an irritating mumblecore arthouse feature. Edwards has a great directorial eye, but his handling of the love story/flirtation leaves much to be desired.

The film supplies a marvelous introduction for Edwards, a special effects wizard moving into the directorial chair who was just named as director of the upcoming Godzilla reboot.  This film isn't the picture many giant monster fans imagine it to be. Instead of "Cloverfield" destruction or "District 9" conflict, "Monsters" steps back, endeavoring to create a realist backdrop to support his human love story. The lack of monster mashing is a letdown, since Edwards has created some suspenseful sequences when the Lovecraftian creatures do attack.

However, "Monsters" isn't about the creatures, it's about the couple. Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able appear to be limited performers, unable to bring anything to the script that unfortunately tracks their underdeveloped relationship from tentative partnership to googly eyes.  I give Edwards credit for attempting to create some sensitivity to a potentially chilly sci-fi affair, but the effort lacks any chemistry, rendering long stretches of the feature tedious as the twosome bond through banal conversation. 
Aliens are here, but rarely take center stage but when they do Edwards shows great skill is crafting suspenseful sequences. The filmmakers play with the meaning of the title, revealing the beasts to be protective parents while the military blasts away. The creatures are executed solidly, creating memorable images on a tiny budget. The film might have been better as a short, allowing Edwards to trim the fat and intensify his visual storytelling. It's a drifting picture, but sporadically gripping and mysterious at least good enough to help the viewer get past the unmemorable love story.