Monsters is filled with impressive otherworldy effects

Who's in it? Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able

The plot Set in 2015, six years after a Nasa space probe accidentally populated a large slice of northern Mexico with extraterrestrial spores, Monsters - which has been favourably compared to Neill Blomkamp's excellent District 9 - sees weary news photographer, Andrew Kaulder (McNairy), head out on the hunt for close-ups of the man-killing aliens.

Unhappily assigned to transport his boss's daughter, Samantha (Able) from Mexico to the United States, Andrew is dismayed to learn their only available route leads directly through the quarantined "infected zone." Even more alarming is the fact that the aliens' migration is imminent and the E.T.s are restless.

What we liked The story is genuinely original and interesting, with the two actors generating a fantastic chemistry. The beautiful, otherworldly effects throughout the movie are very impressive, with CGI used sparingly, but effectively, as opposed to the in-your-face effects employed by Hollywood studios these days - and the aliens' often just-out-of-sight presence pervades every frame.

What we didn't like Although British director, Gareth Edwards, has come up with an original flick here, the inevitability of the protagonists' relationship adds the one predictable note