*Colossal*, the movie (full of spoilers)

I’ll have to put this under the fold, because I can’t say anything without giving away everything…OK, people, this is one strange movie.  The movie is mostly about U.S.-Korean relations, and U.S. foreign policy more broadly, albeit in cloaked form.  To cut to the chase, Anne Hathaway from NYC (but born in a rural area) symbolizes Hillary Clinton, and the character of “Oscar,” who loves his trashy red state, is Donald Trump.  The two engage in a series of pitched personal battles, and, through an obscure mechanism, this translates into two giant monsters fighting in the streets of Seoul, and destroying parts of the city through their wanton carelessness (yes, really).  So the movie is about how disputes in domestic American politics can wreck other parts of the world and Americans don’t really give a damn.  Oscar even uses Seoul as a hostage, repeatedly, to get his way in town, and later he takes joy in trashing parts of Seoul.  Oscar also loves to blow things up, if only to signal his irresponsibility, and he will blow up his own property too, just so he can push others around, because he feels so small in life.  He obtains his explosives through illegal trade with Mexico, which he decries but engages in nonetheless.  The red state trashers stand with Oscar no matter what.

The movie indicates that a much-younger “Hillary” made her first appearance in Seoul 25 years ago (1992!), but at the time no one noticed her import.  Recently she has come back, in the form of the giant monster, and the city grows to realize that she will save them from Oscar, the evil robot.

There are numerous references to Godzilla, which of course is a movie about (among other things) America destroying parts of Japan.

The movie’s ending has Hillary saving them from Trump, and Koreans crying with joy, but of course it didn’t work out that way.  And to watch this movie right after the Syria and Afghanistan bombings…

That all said, I wish it were a better film.  It is more interesting than masterful.

I read quite a few reviews of this one, but only Vogue has any clue at all.  I’m glad I saw it, but unsure whether I should recommend it to you.

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