Purely Joyful Movie!

Perfect cast and a good story

Good start, but then it gets ruined

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

This is a sequel to a movie called Monsters. This is not a god movie. But it is not has bad has monsters. This does have a very good story line. It has an awful acting. It is boring and slow at times. Do not wast your time. Do not waste your money. This movie is pooh. Who are these people who keep giving it 5. It is not a 5. It is a 4. Do not see this movie. It a horror movie that is not scary. It is a lot of pooh pooh. Do not see it. See Godzilla. See King Kong (1933). Do not see this movie. See Kong skull island. Do not see this. This will put you to sleep.

I should admit from the start that I was no fan of the original MONSTERS, which I found to be an arty bore. Sadly, this terrible sequel is even worse, a near-plot less affair that manages to convey a weird apocalyptic world populated by a giant alien race co-existing alongside mankind. However, much of this is mere subtext and instead DARK CONTINENT seems to be your typical men-on-a-mission war film.It's gritty and hand-held throughout, but suffers hugely from an excruciatingly lunk-headed script which is full of profanity and no wit. There's a lot of screaming, shouting, and crying, which all gets very tiresome very quickly. The CGI effects are used sparingly and are pretty good, but for me the writing is the thing and it's really poor here. It's a shame, as a couple of the main actors have been great elsewhere (Johnny Harris in THIS IS ENGLAND, Joe Dempsie in GAME OF THRONES) but they're really struggling here.

What a totally bizarre movie. First off it's called "Dark Continent" but the action takes place in the Middle East, not Africa.The first third of the film is populated by irritating and unlikeable jar heads whose idea of a good night out is sex with prostitutes, drugs and animal cruelty in downtown Detroit.Next, we move these Einstein's on to the Middle East (where I, for one, couldn't really care if they live or die). Now we introduce some strange looking aliens, the largest of which are like huge lumbering giraffes with hydra heads, who make whale- like noises. There is apparently a smaller breed who run like cheetahs mainly, it seems, to lure the clueless Marines into IED's.Later we are introduced to the baby of the species, one of which lives in a kids toy box and pops out like something out of a Disney movie to sprinkle fairy dust onto the desert floor.Now add to the mix the main "meat" of the movie, a violent and visceral incursion by the American Marines into Taliban territory. Yes, this is basically a war movie with monsters thrown in (for goodness only knows what reason). This is not a metaphor, not a satire, certainly not art-house, in fact, I can't really say what it is at all. I just kept thinking how Starship Troopers addressed the issues of patriotism and war (with aliens) in such better context so many decades before.Not totally without merit as some of the scenes are quite haunting but this film desperately needed an editorial snip to cut at least a half hour off the run-time and a much firmer focus on intention. The acting is also pretty mediocre, but then, if the director was as confused about his vision as he seems to have been, you can't really blame the players.All in all a major mess that needed far more real monsters and far less of the "real monster is man" cliché.

Talking about Monsters: Dark Continent (2014) Directed b y Tom Green, who co wrote it with Jay Basu. I very much liked the original Monsters, and looked forward to seeing this entry. In many ways it is like the first film; Both put you in a close to the action by way of the characters. Both involve journeys into the Infected Zones, Both have a sequence of Awe at the fantastic beasts. There are many in this version. There is where the similarity ends, This is a soldiers point of view, and this is a war film. Given a tight group of street buddies, from Detroit, We are introduced to the guys, Johnny Harris, Sam Keeley, Joe Demise are the leads. We get their camaraderie in scenes that unfold much like in "The Deer Hunter" The actors here are all dead serious, and tough, As are the characters they play. The Mission is to keep the insurgents down while hunting the huge monsters. The scenario switches to the Middle East. Wonderful location shots abound. The look of the film turns to Ridley Scott's "Blackhawk Down". The sound work is awesome. What starts out for the soldiers, as a shooting gallery game, turns dead serious when they are fired upon. The subject of the Insuergents treads on thin Ice. Parallels can be drawn from the current world scene, and although I do not buy the argument that our military would bomb civilian areas, to inflict harm on the Monsters, the "Oppressed people fighting back" argument mirrors current events. At one point in the film, one of the leaders states that we are there to battle the insurgents first, then the Monsters. People killing people. The monster design is wonderful, the creatures seem to have evolved into many various forms, from a pit bull sized street beast, to a graceful horse like runner, who's heard sweep the dessert sands, running faster than jeeps. The huge beasts are wonderful constructs, with no recognizable features, but familiar in their movements. In truth the monsters are secondary elements. The high drama and fear and pain come from the battles with the insurgents. Madness and anger dominate and cloud reason. Innocents are killed. and therein lies the true tragedy here. The loss of friends. This is a thought provoking and intense film experience. Do not expect to have a good or easy time here. All the technical aspects were spot on. The dog barking off to the side sounded like it was in my room. Some epic, but understated long shots. I found this a sadly overlooked but well done movie. . Eight out of Ten Gritty Stars.