Trailer for 'Monsters: Dark Continent' Brings the Action

The film that basically earned Gareth Edwards his shot at reviving Godzilla was the atmospheric monster flick, appropriately titled Monsters. And it's safe to say that Edwards brought a similar moody aesthetic to Godzilla; never overusing the creatures themselves and sparing them until they were most effective. Unlike the $500M blockbuster, Monsters can't be categorized as an action movie. It was a character piece and allegory about immigration policy more than anything else. But with Edwards out of the picture the sequel Monsters: Dark Continent has gone a totally different direction.

Directed by Tom Green (no, not Drew Barrymore's ex), Monsters: Dark Continent appears to be more of a war film than anything else, with more monsters lurking over every hill. Johnny Harris (Snow White and the Huntsman) stars as a soldier desperately trying to find his friend while the U.S. sends the military in to deal with the growing monster threat.

Edwards is only on board here as an exec-producer and he seems to have left Green to his own devices, crafting a movie that is completely separate from the first one. That said, the action looks pretty good, better than the tiny budget would suggest. In that way it shares at least one thing in common with Edwards' film. Monsters: Dark Continent has yet to gain a U.S. date but opens in the U.K. this November.


Monsters Dark Continent - Trailer by itsartmag

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Trailer for Gareth Edwards-Produced Sequel 'Monsters: Dark Continent'

By now many are watching Gareth Edwards' Godzilla and maybe finding out the director's name for the very first time. It's his first big studio picture, earned because of what he was able to show in his debut, Monsters, a creature film that had a similarly ominous mood and shadowy feel. And with Edwards now having hit the major leagues, Tom Green (Misfits) was called upon to direct the sequel, Monsters: Dark Continent, and now a new trailer shows where he is taking the franchise.

Looking like a very different film, this one takes the monster action to the Middle East where a military unit enters the infected zone to take out more creatures bursting forth from the ground like sandworms. The first film helped make Scoot McNairy a star and this one mostly features unknowns with Johnny Harris (Welcome to the Punch) the biggest name.

Monsters: Dark Continent has yet to gain a U.S. release date, but with Edwards exec-producing don't be surprised if it arrives later this year.

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New director to lead sequel to Gareth Edwards' 'Monsters'

Gareth Edwards found lightning in a bottle with his 2010 small budget sci-fi hit, Monsters. Put together on a tiny $500,0000 budget, yet packing incredible special effects and an intriguing premise, the film would go on to make about $4M worldwide, with Edwards and star Scoot McNairy become sought after talent ever since. Edwards has been tapped to helm a Godzilla reboot, while McNairy starred opposite Brad Pitt in Killing Them Softly, and is a part of Ben Affleck's Argo. Not too shabby.

A sequel to Monsters has been in the planning stages since last year, at one time having Jesse Atlas and Brent Bonacarso in line to direct. Not much was heard about it since, but now it appears the film is definitely on the way, and albeit with a different director taking over. Screen Daily(via ThePlaylist) mentioned in a recent story that Tom Green will direct Monsters: The Dark Continent, with Jay Basu(Fast Girls) providing the script. Before you freak out, it's not the Tom Green you're thinking of. It's not the Freddy Got Fingered, ex Mr. Drew Barrymore Tom Green. This, far more talented Green is a director of the Brit superhero TV series, Misfits, and is widely regarded as a future star.

The original Monsters had a photojournalist and a rich man's daughter making their way across a quarantined Mexico, ravaged by monster attacks ever since a NASA probe crash landed on the US/Mexico border. The creature design was impressive, and so was the world Edwards created. I took issue with the script, however, and the pace slow to the point of being dull. Although Edwards has moved on to greener pastures, he's still on board in a producing capacity.  I'm interested in seeing where this goes, because Vertigo Films seems to have a lot of confidence in making this a long-lived, respected series of monster flicks. 

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