The no-budget 2010 oddity Monsters was a first-feature calling card for Godzilla director Gareth Edwards, who conjured beautiful visual effects and engaging character arcs from the most meagre of resources. This disappointing sequel, directed by Tom Green, mimics the Alien/Aliens genre shift, moving from moody atmospherics to blood-and-guts warpic as it follows soldiers from Detroit into the expanding “infected zone” battlefields of the Middle East. As before, the extraterrestrials provide background noise, although frankly it’s hard to hear them over the gunfire and macho posturing of the first half. Jordan provides eye-catchingly atmospheric locations, but 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.
