Monsters: Dark Continent. Official UK DVD Review. DVD/Blu-ray/Steel Book and Double Pack available 28th August 2015.

Monsters: Dark Continent. UK DVD Release Official Review.

I have a few concerns as I begin to write my review for this movie. Firstly as the public following of the first film, “Monsters”, is so huge and led to it’s director being offered a major Hollywood title, that being “Godzilla” of course and then Gareth’s deserved opportunity to direct a “Star Wars” spin-off film, “Rogue One”, I thought, look out here comes a potential s**t storm if I get it wrong.

Ok this is what I mean, do not expect a straight forward follow up, the similarities between the first and second film only is; The “Monsters” themselves, of which we get to see a lot more of this time. I will be honest and say I watched the review disk before I read any of the many critics’ reviews that were currently online at that time and had not seen it at a cinema. I totally “got it” with this sequel and completely connected with it within the first 20 minutes, as much as the images, story and bad language tried to compromise my feelings.

Monsters: Dark Continent. Official Trailer.

Vista’s of a bleak, grey blue, austere, negative and in recession Detroit somewhere in the present close future begin the story. Suffering and struggling with issues of an almost compulsory climate of gang mentality and that gang “nature” being an inevitable “way of life” for many of the young city dwelling American men like the four friends we are introduced to, Parkes, Maguire, Williams and Inklaar who really have no other option but to escape the potential gang life existence and enlist in the Marine Corp to fight the Monster Menace growing around the world particularly in the Middle East, on their first tour.

Then move forward in time and smash that view up against the blistering heat and Armageddon like unstable condition of the Middle East with the rise in Islamic Insurgency, where anyone might be a sniper, suicide bomber or prepared to set off an IED, under your “Hummer” as you drive over. Their Platoon commanding officers are Forest and Frater. Frater a veteran of nine tours, (maybe something to do with the “nine lives of a cat”) is a ticking time bomb psychologically.

It’s not a fun, no brainer, roller coaster ride like, how could I say, “Marines Go Extraterrestrial Bug Hunting” like in “Starship Troopers” or “Aliens”, it’s a quite a bit more dark, uncompromising, unpleasant, repulsive and quite grotesque in places intellectually bereft of any common sense or reason, more like “District 9” meets “Black Hawk Down”, where Marines are recruited in on a special black ops mission deep in side Islamic Insurgency territory in the middle east, only to then all go mental under the pressure of the unfolding final truth about what’s going on with middle east insurgency and the Monsters evolution. It’s one hell of a shit ride into Hades were nothing is pleasant or wholesome as the marines are slowly killed off until only Noah Frater and Michael Parkes are left.

The Monsters are depicted as almost victims of the situation, often just mowed down with gunfire, missiles and bombs, like a giant space squid, they obviously did not want to be here on our Earth and if they did, what could possibly happen to their development? You will find out come the end, if you can stick it out. 

Given a 15 certificate here in the UK and then a R rating Stateside and 18 just about everywhere else, be warned there are some gruelling and gruesome moments along the way depicting the true horrors of war and the harsh decisions real soldiers have to make in conflict situations, let’s just say your girlfriend won’t like it probably and if you enjoyed the first film you might not either, unless like me have a taste for the downbeat.

The killer downbeat ending will have you clap and cheer or swear as the secret comes out at the very end of the film, where the "jokes" on you, I will admit I was happy and kinda surprised with the stunning down beat ending, that it was actually decided to go down that route, it’s been a long, long time since I have felt like that over a film, I think the last time I felt like it was after seeing David Fincher’s “SE7EN” and Guillermo Del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth”, you know the feeling where you get it all wrong and expect a happy ending’s coming, oh no, no , no ,no ,no, you will say to yourself as the bucket of ice cold water of realisation hit’s you. Yeah it was ok, take a success and go completely left field with it, sure to un-foot you and it made really a change from the predictable and expected.