Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis, Austin Stowell, Tim Blake Nelson, Dan Stevens, Hannah Cheramy, Nathan Ellison.

There is a monster in all of us, how we keep it quiet, how we take on its virtues and its quirks is up to us, whether we drown it, whether we lull it to sleep with any type of substances or whether we allow it to consume us, to overtake our lives and subdue, to make us feel the guilt of all we have done, the thought behind it all may be too much to handle, it may just be too Colossal.

In one of the quirkiest films of the year, Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis go head to head as two people driven by a past event but who have buried their feelings so deep inside a bottle that the only way to let the monster loose, is to let the monster loose and see the devastation it causes on the people of South Korea. Quirky perhaps but one with a deep underlying message of allowing abuse to grow, to not stamp it out from the very beginning is to see the Monster become something too big to handle, to see it consume you inside and out.

Hatred is an abdominal feeling, hatred driven by jealousy and of oneself is terrifying, it can cause spite to rise, abuse to fester and the unsavoury element in us all to maximise its potential. Colossal plays on this perfectly, it shrouds itself around the thought that deep within us is still a child who cannot get its own way so it must stamp on the friends toy or belittle the neighbour’s achievements just so it can feel good about itself, it is the kind of person who will say that gaining a degree and the sacrifices made means nothing whilst all the time stealing someone else’s wife or husband.

This message underneath the sometimes underplayed humour is the real colossus, it is the real feeling of depth that carries it through and one in which, whilst Anne Hathaway won’t be as recognised as she was for her role in Les Miserables, nevertheless sparkles with great passion and joy, one in which Jason Sudeikis excels as the bitter and twisted friend.

Colossal is worth seeing for the message alone, for we all know someone who lives their life trapped in a bottle, not wishing to let the monster free.

Ian D. Hall