There
is an old saying about no atheists in fox holes. By the same token, a herd of
rampaging kaijus ought to make even the most irrational jihadist grateful to
see the U.S. Marines. Sadly, that is not the case in this chaotic near future
monster bash. The Middle East has become the world’s hottest infection zone, so
the American military has come to fight the monsters where they are. Yet, every
accidental case of collateral damage becomes grist for Islamist grievance propaganda
in Tom Green’s Monsters: Dark Continent (trailer here), which opens this
Friday in New York.
For
those keeping score at home, Dark
Continent is technically a sequel to Gareth Edwards’ Monsters, but it is probably just as well if prospective viewer are
not aware of its lineage, or else they might expect a significantly better
film. Ten years after the events of straight Monsters, the Middle East has become the new center of battle. A
group of thuggish friends from Detroit (looking even scarier than the terrorist
and tentacle ridden desert) have shipped off to Sgt. Noah Frater’s unit, so he
will make sure the maggots are in proper fighting condition. They are a
stereotypical pack, who hardly deserve names, including the sullen orphan
protagonist, his unstable protector, and the buddy whose girlfriend just had a
baby. Right, odds are he won’t even make it into the second act.
Edwards’
Monster was a clever DIY calling card
that led directly to his Godzilla gig.
Unfortunately, even though Green retained the general creature designs, he
emphasizes the worst aspects of the previous film. Where Monsters offered a lot of not so subtle immigration commentary, Dark Continent sees itself as an
extended critique of American military intervention in the Mid-East. However,
the message-making was hardly the reason the prior film was successful. The
first time around, Edwards understood his responsibility for providing certain kaiju
deliverables. In fact, aspects of politicized near future worked in tandem with
the film’s genre movie conventions. Being stuck on the monster-plagued side of
an ultra-fortified border follows right in line with the basic
rock-and-a-hard-place tradition.
Bizarrely,
Green frequently loses sight of the titular monsters and invites the audience
to openly side with the terrorist insurgency against the American military.
They are just uneducated thrill seekers who shoot first and ask questions later,
whereas the victimized local population understands how to live with the
monsters in inter-species harmony. Of course, if any of the monsters were women,
they would have to wear a burqa and if any were homosexual, they would
logically be stoned to death.
