Marina Antunes [Celluloid 09.04.14] scifi thriller



We'd already had a pretty good look at the aliens in Monsters: Dark Continent but it looks like Vertigo is putting it all out there before the movie's release and a newly minted trailer has appeared that features even more alien action.

The sequel to Gareth Edwards debut is being directed by Tom Green and stars "The Fades" stars Johnny Harris and Joe Dempsie as members of the US army sent to the middle east to fight off the alien invasion.


It's a stylish looking affair featuring some of the same footage we've seen in previous trailers but with the added bonus of loads and loads of aliens and more than one really stellar looking scene of aliens peeking through dust, mountains and windows.

Monsters: Dark Continent will premiere at the London Film Festival and open in the UK on November 28. Fingers crossed that a North American release will follow closely behind.

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Frodo (7 years ago) Reply

Looks like just another propaganda flick for the arms industry. Could have been anywhere on earth, but it's in the Middle East. Could have involved any type of human being, but focuses on soldiers.
No doubt they'll throw in a few scenes of the essentially non-violent nature of the aliens, and of course who the true monsters are, but I've a feeling like Natural Born Killers (mass murderers being made cool by the media), Goodfellas (the consequences of the characters' actions being ignored), Finding Nemo (sales of exotic fish rocketing when it clearly promotes leaving them alone) it'll become a victim of its own message and appear on BD shelves alongside Transformers & Iron Man as slightly less overt war-porn, but war porn nevertheless...
But I do hope not...

Frodo (7 years ago) Reply

Just watched the trailer (after I posted the comment above) and apart from a sprinkling of the now popular ambiguity meme of 'good vs evil' filtering into mainstream entertainment, it seems exactly what I suspected. Even showing 'New! Improved!' emotional experiences for the audience, like inter-cultural romance taboo & empathy with the aliens.
Think I'll watch Starship Troopers again instead...

Frodo (7 years ago) Reply

Me again - found this. Again, AFTER I suspected it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQSpHi7OOHA

Marina (7 years ago) Reply

Thanks for that link. It was an interesting watch!

Umberto (7 years ago) Reply

this is an inteligent sequel,i think who the military aspect is only a facade for a deeper story...

albertus fox (7 years ago) Reply

The first film was original, a bystander view of an alien invasion. The trailer just looks like Battle:LA.
But...I will reserve judgement when I see it. It may have of been made to lure in a wider audience.

guido_jenkins (7 years ago) Reply

I cant put my finger on it but there is something about this film that is simply uninteresting.. boring... has that "been done already" feeling... maybe its just me... ????

Koolz (7 years ago) Reply

Frodo you are smart! www.tomatobubble.com
yea Middle East. Why the heck is this damn film taking place there. Who is Backing this film? Why ok'd the script? It's Joke Right?
were better off with Rapnews.

robin (7 years ago) Reply

Either the trailer is entirely misleading (a remote possibility) or this film abandons EVERYTHING that was interesting about the original Monsters. Recall that that film has the aliens in the background and told a story completely at odds with the normative "lets kill the foul invaders". Frodo +1

Speedy (7 years ago) Reply

I never understood why the aliens were so hard to kill in the first movie.
They ahve no ranged weapons, are HUGE and easy to spot. Was there some detail on how they spread that was missed? How do they get to the middle east? WHY do they go there? (Did they want a beach episode?) WIll there ever be a movie where the army does not stuff up? (Other than "Them" and possibly "Battle LA"?)

Hopefully the army will not be engaging the giant monster's in the dark, without support. AGAIN!!!!

Frodo (7 years ago) Reply

I think the aliens in the first movie were hard to wipe out because of their reproductive cycle and the land area. Containment was the only option as our tech is not as good as it's promoted to be.
Maybe. I've a hunch the Middle East thing won't be addressed, or dismissed in a one-liner which might get a laugh. Hollywood has a tendency to assimilate cinematic trends in unexpected successes they didn't predict and then have to follow suit to keep the punters happy. Like with the comic book reboots and ambiguous heroics. But they still manage to fit the DOD in when they can, and senior executives still have the last say. Even Ridley Scott has admitted that he's held back on narrative so that a 'Director's Cut' can be released for purely commercial reasons. Sold out mofo.
I just hope District 10 doesn't get the same treatment.

lotus eater (7 years ago) Reply

"Our tech", ...you got a mouse in your pocket? ;-) hehehe

Not everybody is walking around with the same technology.

In fact ones technological capability is artificially restricted.

Like bees ive tried many times to make honey but unfortunately so far all i have made is poop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV6kgOTi2WQ

Frodo (7 years ago) Reply

Heh. What I meant was that explosives are explosives, no matter how much tech is used to get them to where they want them to explode. Nuking the rainforests would be bad writing as it's supposed to be 'realistic' and present day-ish, and fallout would be devastating for us humans.

Lots of movies just blow things up to distract from shitty script & shallow character personalities; we have endless destruction on our screens, but oh wow...it looks cool. And nowadays unpredictable and/or antihero is becoming the norm - hence my whincing at this trailer when a soldier shows empathy for 'the enemy'.

And I disagree that "one's technological capability is artificially restricted" - it's restricted to the resources you can acquire and who controls the funding and aims of the projects. The rest is spin produced to make us feel that tech will save the day and tomorrow we'll have hoverboards and free power. You see it in AI, Minority Report, and most space movies. Think about it - we got to the moon 45 years ago in a huge firework and we haven't been anywhere else since.

And as Philip K Dick said (paraphrased):
"Science fiction is made to avoid the future, not predict it."

What he actually meant was 'good science fiction'.

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