I remember hearing about this movie last year, but only vague descriptions of it. I remember when I tried to get Rampaige to watch it, I told her it was something kind of like District 9, but with monsters instead of aliens. I was kind of right, but, not really. What I forgot to think about is that the terms “monster” and “alien” aren’t mutually exclusive, and some people might consider aliens to be monsters. Apparently the makers of this movie did, because there sure were some mother fucking monster-y aliens in it! Oh, and there’s going to be spoilers that I’m going to include at the end, so if the movie sounds interesting, skip the spoilers.

I mean, come on, are you really missing out on that much?

Apparently monster-y aliens have landed on Earth, in Mexico to be exact, and the film opens with a military squad attacking these aliens, and then there’s a huge explosion that supposedly kills everything and everyone where this was taking place. We then see a young man and woman, and learn that they are on the wrong side of the “Isolated Zone” and are trying to get through it to get back to America. The woman is apparently the daughter of the owner of a company that this young man works for, so it’s this man’s duty to make sure she finds safe passage across. The rest of this 94 minute film shows their trials and tribulations, and there really isn’t all that much action or suspense. Or, rather, not as much as I was suspecting. They finally cross the border into America, which appears to be in a really desolate region, possibly because the aliens have made their way to this location. The couple get to a gas station and contact the authorities, and while awaiting pickup, they see two aliens descend upon the gas station. Rather than attacking the humans, the two aliens interact with one another in a big tentacular spectacle, and then continue on their way. We then see the military approaching in a caravan, and the film ends.

SPOILER

When we see the military in the first five minutes, one soldier is singing a specific theme song. We here that song being sung as we see the caravan approaching. I watched the first five minutes again to see that the characters we were just watching are the ones being attacked and killed and exploded in that opening scene.

END SPOILERS

Who are the real monsters…the aliens, or the people trying to kill them? Hahaha just kidding, luckily they skimped on that cheesy metaphor for the most part.

If you skipped over the spoilers, than this movie isn’t too bad. It’s labeled as “sci-fi” and “horror”, but is definitely more of a love story. Sure, this love story is taking place in this world where there are monsters that are killing people, and the military is destroying populations where they think the monsters are, but it’s still a love story. There’s nothing especially exciting about this love story either. You don’t necessarily dislike or like either of the characters to an extreme, you just get to explore their relationship in this world of fear, knowing they could die at any moment. Although there were certainly moments where clearly the director was trying to make political/social statements about “fear of the unknown” and the general fear and hatred of different cultures/lifeforms, it wasn’t too over-the-top. It also wasn’t trying to be too subtle about it, and they really just made a few specific statements about where the agenda and priorities of the United States government were. I’m going to end the review of the non-spoiler related plot there, because that stuff wasn’t all that incredible. Maybe a Half Moon. However, I recommend seeing this movie because of the subject matter contained in the spoilers, but don’t want to ruin it for anyone going to see it.

SPOILER REVIEW

As we see the military approaching, we hear one soldier singing a very specific song that one of the soldiers was singing in the opening five minutes. As it turns out, the opening scene, showing the monster assault and a guided missile killing everything, was what the fate of the main characters was. THEY FUCKING DIED! I wasn’t quite sure I got it, but when I watched the opening again, you can see the two main characters bloody and screaming as clear as day. Maybe other people knew that the whole time, but it only dawned on me at the very end. With that in mind, knowing all that bullshit romance ended in death and sadness, it made the film that much more enjoyable. I’m not saying this movie is perfect, and maybe after a repeat viewing I will lower its rating, but I was thoroughly entertained for 94 minutes, and anything that ends in complete loss of hope, as well as death, is fine by me!

Wolfman Moon Scale