This languidly paced feature really feels like a love story more than anything else. We follow this couple as they try and get her to safety. Yet the pitfalls they run into seldom involve giant, tentacled beasties. Whether they can’t get somewhere because of a money issue or just bad timing, it seldom reaches the science fiction aspect. So the structure of Monsters rest on the shoulders of the films leads. They do a credible enough job, yet credible may not be enough.

Both McNairy and Able are likable, yet their connection to each other is fairly weak. It would have been fantastic to relate to these two. The idea of putting two people in a film like this, yet keep them just outside of the action and mayhem is an interesting concept. And sometimes it works, but there is very little chemistry between Andrew and Samantha that never really sparks. Maybe a second watch would prove fruitful in this scenario, but it was hard to relate to either of them.

You have to applaud director Gareth Edwards for this. As much as it felt disconnected, you have to admire the fact that he achieved visually what he did on such a limited budget. The infected areas, the poor people left behind while terror and violence erupts around them, it is all shot incredibly well. Edwards successfully created a very dark setting that looked impossible to escape from. Monsters is a well-meaning yet sluggish journey, one which offers an occasional spark, but not much more than that.

What is your favorite monster movie?