A special, wonderfully atmospheric achievement.

| Aug 30, 2018

An astonishing achievement for first-time British feature director Gareth Edwards.

| Apr 4, 2011

A better-than-average debut by a filmmaker who merits watching. Let's hope that he keeps some of his indie spirit when Hollywood comes calling.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 4, 2011

It's a journey that involves plenty of hazards, none more dire than the prospect of romantic scenes between two actors with zero chemistry.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Apr 4, 2011

Monsters is part immigration parable, part war allegory with a dose of It Happened One Night and The African Queen tossed in.

Full Review | Dec 17, 2010

Every scene has real texture, genuine tension.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 8, 2010

This is a very postmodern sci-fi, with its downbeat approach to the monsters themselves, but with a hugely involving love story.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 2, 2010

It's a gorgeous and unsettling ride, a road movie about an almost-romance, with the threat of the unknown hanging in the air, and an ending, both beautiful and elegantly scary, that sends shivers down the spine.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 2, 2010

This film is so edgy it hardly needs its monsters. (But don't worry, it gets them.)

| Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 2, 2010

A seamless blending of romance, road movie and monster flick.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 1, 2010

An amazing achievement for a 'first-time' filmmaker, which measures up to the finest indies for performance and character-work, and the biggest blockbusters for jaw-dropping effects.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Nov 29, 2010

Only distinguishable from a Hollywood alien invasion movie, like Skyline, in one way. It's actually REALLY good.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 28, 2010

The film also has the misfortune of coming in the wake of Cloverfield and District 9, which were much bigger and more accomplished renderings of similar ideas.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 24, 2010

With two strong central performances, a wonderfully genuine style, and some daring filmmaking decisions, Monsters will have a Godzilla-sized following develop over the next few years.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 19, 2010

A sharp little low-fi monster movie operating from a tantalizing premise.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 19, 2010

"Monsters" is a rather special achievement. Think of it as a movie that M. Night Shyamalan (and we) would be happy he made.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 18, 2010

The result impresses thanks to the lead actors' performances and Edwards' skilled efforts. But it should come with a warning: ''Here be (not many) monsters.''

| Original Score: B+ | Nov 17, 2010

This is such an interesting film in the riffs that you can get out of it about American attitudes to outsiders, so that at the end, particularly at the end, you wonder who the true monsters are.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 17, 2010

With Monsters, Edwards transcends the special-effects auteur label, creating a memorable sci-fi story in which the hero and heroine are true equals in the adventure. How's that for an alien concept?

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 12, 2010

Just remember, folks: If a NASA probe finds alien life forms in space, it's not a good idea to bring DNA samples back to Earth.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 11, 2010