'Colossal' Delivers a Crowd-Pleasing Kaiju ... With a Twist

Opening this weekend in New York and Los Angeles, Colossal is the latest film from genre-bending director Nacho Vigalondo. This monster-movie-turned-rom-com takes the kaiju eiga concept of a giant monster destroying a South Korean city and adds a huge twist, which we won’t spoil here since you probably haven’t seen it yet (and if you haven’t watched trailers for Colossal yet, it’s probably best to avoid them as well if you want to preserve the twist). The new film is a modest success at the box office and a huge hit among fans … at least those who can see it.

With a relatively narrow release on its opening weekend — just a handful of theaters — Colossal is getting lots of positive reviews and generating even more buzz on the internet.

While the concept of Colossal may seem like a joke at first, Vigalondo assured Inverse that he’s a lover of the genre and does not intend to create some kind of parody film.

“I understand people get that impression before they see the film, but I don’t want the movie to feel like we’re mocking kaiju eiga films,” he said.

The resulting movie is a classic monster-smashing-cities thrill ride with an equally well-rounded human element. Critics are generally pleased, too, resulting in 72 percent positive critical reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

Here’s what the lucky few are saying so far:

It goes without saying that if you’re in New York or Los Angeles, you should see this unique genre film this weekend. But the reality is that most of us are not in those cities, so a huge number of fans — or more specifically, potential fans — are frustrated that the film is only showing in select theaters during its opening weekend. Hopefully, the initial buzz will translate to a wider release in the coming month.