It’s been 10 years since the arrival of the Monsters and the Infected Zones have spread across the globe. The military is focusing on the Middle East by bombing the herd of monsters to try and clear them out. This has also made the people leave these areas but new insurgents have begun to take over the region. Their leader Frater has put together the group that will stop the new threat.
They have no idea what they’ve signed up for.
MONSTERS: DARK CONTINENT is director Tom Green’s feature film debut. He has done a few short films but they haven’t been on the scale of this movie. The cast is a relative group of fresh faces as well. This is a sequel to the 2010 Gareth Edwards’ film MONSTERS, which was a critical success.
This is another one of those direct-to-video movies that is missing some key elements from its predecessor. Yes, there are monsters and they are like the originals but there is something missing: the mystery. The first film had a certain amount of mystery that the monsters were the focus but not the main divining point. This plays out like an army script and a monster movie script have been mashed together. It begins like some typical war movie where you get the understanding of how good of friends they are and they get thrown into the mix. Cue some herds of monsters and there you go.
Cast
Johnny Harris as Frater
Sam Keeley as Michael
Joe Dempsie as Frankie
Jesse Nagy as Conway
Nicholas Pinnock as Forrest
Parker Sawyers as Williams
Kyle Soller as Inkelaar
Sofia Boutella as Ara
Michaela Coel as Kelly
The 1080p transfer is mostly of the arid desert and the soldiers adjusting to the region. There honestly isn’t too much in the way of coloring aside from he first 15-20 mins before they are deployed. It starts off with bright colors that pop off of the screen but when they arrive in the Middle East, the colors mute. Their faces wash out a little and lose detail in the bright light. Later in the film, the greens and browns stand out but they are brief. As far as blocking or crushing, there really aren’t any issues that stand out. The night ops have been authored with skill and the lighting works well.
The audio track for the movie is a DTS-HD MA 5.1 with some good points and there are some pretty big issues. The mix is loud…very, very, loud. It was to the extent that I thought I was going to blow out my speakers. I usually keep the volume anywhere between 18-12.5 on my Yamaha and for this I had to keep it at around 25-26. The first thing that tipped me off is that the dialogue seemed on the brink of being overdriven. On the other hand, there was really good movement in the sound field with the gunfire and explosions. There is also consistent ambient sound coming from the rear speakers. Hopefully in a later release, the mix will be adjusted to proper levels.
The extras on the release are limited to the short featurette and a trailer.
Bonus Features:
-On the Set of Monsters: Dark Continent: This short featurette is with Director Tom Green looking at putting a scene together.
-Teaser Trailer
Disc Details
1 Blu-ray Disc
Running Time
119 mins
Edition Ratings
Rated R
Region Coding
Region A
Video Resolution
1080p AVC MPEG-4
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Audio Mixes
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles
English SDH
Spanish
MONSTERS: DARK CONTINENT is one of those direct to video movie that uses the name of the first critically successful movie but it doesn’t have the same strength. The CGI and army firefight elements are very good but the story is a little disjointed. The video is clear and it has some minor issues but nothing too bad. However, the audio is another matter. It is on the louder side and it can be startling if you aren’t ready for it. My recommendation is to rent it and see for yourself.
