It’s time for a very classic creature feature kind of movie. You can bet that you won’t be seeing anything that really changes the world here but it’s a simple film that does tackle its themes well. It executes without making any real mistakes and at the end of the day that’s exactly what you want to see from a movie like this. The human characters are all solid but very forgettable as they don’t have much of a personality. How are they solid then? Well, the writing in the film is really good so each character talks very professionally and to the point, they just feel more like the film itself than individuals.

The movie starts with the creature taking down a bunch of civilians but is ultimately low diffed by a guy with a harpoon. They take the body back to the lab where it is studied by the government and the concerning thing isn’t the creature itself, but the fact that it can rapidly multiply. One scientist even says that at this speed it could even end up threatening the entire planet! This is clearly not a threat to sneeze at but what can the humans possibly do about it?

When you have a monster film about quantity over quality it is always a pretty interesting change in dynamic from the one giant monster approach. After all if you have one big monster then it stands to reason that the humans are absolutely doomed and will need big bombs. When it’s a lot of smaller ones, the fear is that they will ultimately overpower you. I tend to prefer the one big monster approach but both can work. I do think the monster should have looked a little stronger though. Losing to a single guy with a stick? That’s just not very impressive even if the eye is a weak point. It just doesn’t feel like enough to make you feel scared as the audience even with a swarm of them.

The design is good though. I do like how the creature looked so I’ll give the film props there. The movie still does have a good amount of tension too. I wouldn’t call it scary in the slightest or anything like that but it does get the danger element across. You fully understand that at this point the humans have to band together to stop it or they will absolutely be conquered. There’s no other way around it.

Now as for the humans, well like I said they’re not super memorable. You’ve got Gail who helps a lot with the research and keeping things on track. She’s good and stays on task at all times. Without her the characters would not have been updated enough to stop the monster. Then you have her daughter Sandy who unfortunately ends up messing things up on multiple occasions. At least it was to help the Rabbits but it just reminds you why the kids tend to get in the way for things like this. They don’t understand the stakes and as a result they end up getting in the way.

Then there’s general Twill who is the main army guy here. He always acts rather serious but deep down he’s a nice guy and all of that jazz. The film tries to throw in a bit of a romance here which doesn’t work at all. It’s all a little too fast and doesn’t really add onto the film at all. It’s another instance of just being there to check off the box of having romance but doesn’t really fall into place.

I don’t believe the movie is very long and I can certainly confirm that it doesn’t feel long. It’s over very quickly and so I guess what you can say as a negative is that it won’t feel very memorable. It’s really like many other creature feature films that you would have seen before. It’s not really trying to do anything different at all. It just follows the motions from start to finish but because it was executed well, I didn’t really have a problem with it. It’s still an enjoyable picture.

It plays everything very safe and so it doesn’t make any mistakes even if there are no big highs to be found here either. Whether someone is a fan of monster movies or just a good story, you could recommend this one. At the end of the day it’s about humanity uniting to stop a common threat. You get to see everyone really try to work together on this in time to stop the threat.

Now what I would have done to make this a little more memorable would have been to add some scenes to make the characters a little more dynamic. Usually this is where I recommend adding more action but instead maybe make Twill a little more headstrong. That’s a character trait that always makes a character more memorable. For Gail, I’d throw in some motivation like she wants to help out to really prove herself now that her husband is gone. If anything maybe have him stick around to get bumped off by the monster for that revenge arc. These traits may seem a little cliche, but hey it would be more than as it is currently.

Overall, Don’t let the title fool you, the monster isn’t actually challenging the world verbally or literally by being a force of nature. It’s the potential of the monster in the future which is a threat. That may not sound as exciting as he alternative but that’s just how it is here. It’s still living up to the title slightly I suppose but just not in a big way. If we ever get a remake or sequel, then they need to buff the monster quite a bit but hopefully keep the writing just as solid. Either way, there’s nothing to really dislike here so you’ll have a fun time all the way through.

Overall 7/10