Deprived of sympathetic characters, thrills, and Edwards' skilled touch, the film makes for a disappointing follow-up to some impressive sci-fi cinema.

| Original Score: D+ | Feb 23, 2016

Basically it's a war movie with four or five shots of giant monsters. The film would be exactly the same without them. And the characters are underwritten and unmemorable.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 1, 2016

Monsters are few and far between, and Dark Continent was an offensive name given to Africa by 19th century Europeans, so why exactly this film is called "Monsters: Dark Continent" is anyone's guess.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 29, 2015

The evidence suggests director Tom Green is more a fan of Kathryn Bigelow and Terrence Malick than of Ray Harryhausen; that's not a bad thing, unless your Bigelow-influenced monster movie is pretentious and dreary.

| Original Score: 2/4 | May 15, 2015

The sub-Apocalypse Now existential/colonial angst lacks any form of grounding, despite committed performances from the core cast who engage in much tooth-baring, breast-beating, and shouty soul-searching.

| Original Score: 2/5 | May 4, 2015

A glum, ear-splitting rehash of familiar elements from The Hurt Locker and Saving Private Ryan with the slippery aliens as a side dish rather than a great threat.

| Original Score: 2/5 | May 1, 2015

There are some inventive moments along the way, but these are interspersed with lots of posturing, yelling and brawling.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 30, 2015

It all makes for a powerful metaphor for the human condition during wartime, executed with remarkable skill, confidence and an astute fantasy feel.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 30, 2015

It's a monstrous misfire.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 30, 2015

One to miss.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Apr 30, 2015

If the idea is to show that war makes monsters of us all, then writer-director Tom Green can't quite seem to bring his film to say it.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Apr 30, 2015

A desert-set men-on-a-mission movie complete with jabbering jihadis, macho hysteria and the occasional extraterrestrial waving its tentacles in the background as if to say: 'Isn't this supposed to be about me?'

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 29, 2015

Ambitiously staged and impressively shot, Monsters: Dark Continent makes a bold stab at mounting a franchise but lacks the vision and surprise of its predecessor.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 27, 2015

Suffers from a terrible case of cinematic aphasia. Clearly thinks it's saying something important and deep, but makes no damn sense at all.

| Apr 22, 2015

The CGI effects are sensational, teaming with the beautiful, landscape-rich cinematography to create some stunning imagery. It's a shame it feels underutilized with this script full of war clichés and unsympathetic characters.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Apr 17, 2015

Although Edwards is onboard for the new "Monsters: Dark Continent" as an executive producer, the sequel bears no resemblance to his original, thematically or stylistically.

| Apr 16, 2015

...the film turns into something along the lines of American Alien-Sniper, but without the endlessly arguable ethical ambiguity.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Apr 16, 2015

Actually has more in common with a film like Jarhead, and that's not a compliment

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 16, 2015

Plays like a dorm-room answer to modern war films, complete with the constant profanity and masculine hysterics that pass for impact in an immature script.

| Original Score: D | Apr 16, 2015

It's taxing to watch, and Green moves between scenes with Malick-inspired ellipses, frustrating momentum.

| Apr 14, 2015