Anne Hathaway was launched to fame by 2001’s The Princess Diaries. The actress has shown her abilities in a wide range of genres, covering everything from rom-coms and lighthearted chick flicks (The Devil Wears Prada, The Intern) to superhero movies (The Dark Knight Rises) to dramatic roles (Les Miserables). She has even made her mark in science fiction and fantasy, with her role as the White Queen in Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland series and as Brand in Interstellar. Now, she’s exploring the kaiju side of sci-fi, with a starring role in director Nacho Vigalondo’s upcoming Colossal.
A new teaser trailer for the film was revealed today, showing a somewhat light-hearted approach to this classic monster-movie style, as Hathaway’s Gloria learns that she may be more connected to a rampaging monster than she thought.
The trailer shows Hathaway discovering a giant monster has appeared in Seoul, and that she’s only finding out about it several hours after the rest of the world. At just under a minute, the teaser manages to pack in scenes of Hathaway with her friends, discovering that she appears to have some kind of ‘remote control’ connection to the monster, and starting to take a little joy in her new-found control. It moves through shock, discovery, fear, and fun in only 54 seconds – an impressive feat.
The film, which will be released this April, also stars Saturday Night Live’s Jason Sudeikis as Oscar, Dan Stevens (Legion) as Tim, as well as Tim Blake Nelson and Austin Stowell. After premiering at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, Colossal has been generally well-received by critics, and is currently certified ‘fresh’ by aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes (with 75 percent).
The trailer looks fun, balancing some of the more out-there sci-fi elements with Gloria’s personal journey. It appears that her relationship with her friends is going to be a huge component of the film, and it will be interesting to see how Colossal deals with male/female dynamics, as Gloria seems to have a predominantly male social circle. Another point of interest may be Hathaway’s portrayal of someone struggling with her mental and emotional health after losing her job and her husband and returning to the small town where she grew up. The kaiju element of the movie promises to bring something a little different to this kind of look at a personal crisis, elevating it beyond the usual festival fare.
However, there are some critics who believe that the film lays it on a little too thick with the metaphors, and it is clear that the monster has some kind of parallel to Gloria’s desire for control over her own life. That the trailer gives away the connect right off the bat suggests that this will not be a big twist in the movie, but the basic premise, and that the compelling part will be how Gloria reacts to this shocking development in her life.
Colossal stomps into cinemas this spring.
Source: EW
