Colossal, An Underrated Sci-Fi Comedy, Now On Blu-Ray

Courtesy of Neon Entertainment

Colossal, the underrated sci-fi comedy released this past April is now available on Blu-ray and Digital HD.

Written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo, the indie film stars Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis, Dan Stevens, Austin Stowell, and Tim Blake Nelson.

Produced on a budget of $15 million, the film did not do anywhere near where it should at the box office as it only brought in $4.3 million.  The comedy is one of my favorites this year and it’s saddening to see it underperform at the box office.

The film starts out in South Korea as a young girl is frightened by a towering monster before flashing forward to present day where Gloria (Hathaway) finds herself out of work and parties all the time.  While she hasn’t left her boyfriend, Tim (Stevens), she needs her alone time and decides to move back to her hometown.  In moving back, she reconnects with a friend from her youth, Oscar (Sudeikis).  Oscar now owns a bar and also has an alcohol problem.  After the bar closes, the two of them frequently hang out and drink with Garth (Nelson) and Joel (Stowell).  This is where we think the movie is going in a direction in which it focuses on their romance.  With Gloria’s troubles, she turns to Oscar for support, both emotionally and financially.

Drinking every night is not going to get Gloria’s life back on track.  One night, as Gloria drunkenly walks back home through the park, the same creature that appeared at the start of the movie is back to attack Seoul, South Korea.  It’s not until a few times that Gloria realizes that she’s the one causing all the damage.  Gloria tells Oscar and their friends about what’s happening.  Watching on a tablet, they soon find out that Oscar has the same ability and then the two of them start fighting just for fun before it gets more serious.

As the battles between Gloria and Oscar get intense, Gloria flies to Seoul to take him on without knowing how it will impact Oscar while he’s back at the park.  It shows just how much she’s grown as a character throughout the film.

Nacho Vigalondo delivers us a top-notch kaiju monster movie that also doubles as a romantic comedy.  It’s unique and Hathaway delivers a top-notch performance that I haven’t seen since 2008’s Rachel Getting Married.  It’s feminist movie in many ways as Gloria has to fight for her own survival, be it in her hometown or across the globe, while Oscar, who appears to be a charming guy at first, is that character providing for toxic masculinity and abusive in his own nature.

Following it’s world premiere at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, Colossal would go on to screen at the 2016 Fantastic Fest, the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, and the 2017 SXSW Film Festival.  Neon Entertainment opened the film in theaters on April 7, 2017.  The film was made available on Digital HD on July 22, 2017, before a blu-ray release on August 1, 2017.

 

Danielle Solzman

Danielle Solzman is native of Louisville, KY, and holds a BA in Public Relations from Northern Kentucky University and a MA in Media Communications from Webster University. She roots for her beloved Kentucky Wildcats, St. Louis Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, and Boston Celtics. Living less than a mile away from Wrigley Field in Chicago, she is an active reader (sports/entertainment/history/biographies/select fiction) and involved with the Chicago improv scene. She also sees many movies and reviews them. She has previously written for Redbird Rants, Wildcat Blue Nation, and Hidden Remote/Flicksided. From April 2016 through May 2017, her film reviews can be found on Creators.

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