For an unusual take on the “giant monster” genre, 2017’s Colossal introduces us to Gloria (Anne Hathaway). A New Yorker whose life tends toward too much partying and too little economic stability, she finds herself in a desperate attempt to reboot her life.

To kickstart this, Gloria moves back to her hometown and reconnects with her childhood friend Oscar (Jason Sudeikis). As this occurs, a gigantic monster rampages through South Korea – and Gloria begins to realize she maintains a sort of bizarre connection to those events.

In other words, this isn’t just another Godzilla ripoff - or even a riff on Cloverfield, another “rampaging monster” film. For better or for worse, Colossal attempts to put its own stamp on the genre.

Though in truth, it deals way more with character drama than violent mayhem. The film goes down a quirky path that emphasizes Gloria’s life and her involvement with the monster, so expect more of a “dramedy” with fantasy elements more than anything else.

While that’s not a bad concept, Colossal doesn’t pull off its goals in a satisfying manner. Saddled with a disjointed story, it goes down a smattering of competing paths without much clarity.

Honestly, Colossal feels like a project that gets more credit for its inventive concept than for its execution. It includes maybe 30 minutes of story that it stretches out to almost two hours, way too much time for so little real narrative growth.

Colossal probably would play better if the advertising kept the existence of the monster a secret. Of course, I understand why the studio pushed the sci-fi aspects, but the film might fare better if it gave the viewer a surprise when the creature appears.

Without that minor jolt, Colossal tends to meander, though the cast adds some depth. The film boasts a good group of actors, and they bring out a little spark to the proceedings.

Colossal also manages some decent twists along the way, so even with its flaws, it musters moderate entertainment value. Nonetheless, it lacks consistency and spreads too thin across its running time.

Colossal appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The Blu-ray appeared to replicate the source material nicely.

Sharpness remained solid. Only a smidgen of mild softness ever impacted on wide shots, as the majority of the movie demonstrated positive and definition.

Jagged edges and shimmering failed to occur, and I witnessed no signs of edge enhancement. Print flaws weren’t a factor, so the movie always remained clean and fresh.

Like most modern action movies, Colossal went with a stylized palette that favored orange and teal. These choices seemed tedious, but the disc replicated them as intended.

Blacks appeared deep and dark, while shadows displayed good clarity and smoothness. Overall, I liked this consistently positive presentation.

I also felt pleased with the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Colossal. Though much of the film concentrated on character moments, the various action sequences offered enough pizzazz to create an impact. These filled out the speakers well, and the quieter moments delivered good involvement as well.

Audio quality also was solid. Speech seemed crisp and distinctive, as I noticed no flaws like edginess. Music seemed warm and full, while effects added a real bang to the proceedings. Those elements showed good clarity and accuracy, and they offered tight, deep bass as well. The track accentuated the movie in a satisfying manner.

One Deleted Scene runs four minutes, 16 seconds. It offers an extension to the sequence during which we flash back to the characters’ “origin story”. It adds little in anything to the narrative.

As a character-oriented twist on the “giant monster” genre, Colossal comes with some intriguing moments. However, it tends to ramble and lack the focus it needs. The Blu-ray presents largely good picture and audio but it lacks many supplements. Colossal keeps us moderately entertained but ultimately disappoints.