chrisfowler

The beautiful Clara Lago is on her way from a ruined Earth to Celeste, and awakes in her space- pod to find someone docking - the first living person she'll meet apart from her deceased parents. But the handsome engineer who visits to fix her oxygen is offhand, even though he kisses her... You can see the first of the twists coming (it's in the trailer) but some of the others are nicely handled. This low-key futuristic Spanish-made adventure has some good ideas, a pleasing score and cool visuals, but the director could have made more of the story's tragic implications.

A huge part-mythical part-prehistoric beast with a beak and feathered wings is unearthed during the construction of the Bangkok subway, and although the feisty heroine who shares a bond with it is the subject of an interesting subplot concerning Thai racism, this is a pretty disappointing monster-on-the-loose pic that only picks up in its climactic battle with the army. Flashy edits and lighting effects can't sort out the bad pacing or the pantomime acting from the male leads.

Still, you want to give this first Thai monster movie goodwill points for coming up with a new beast, even if he does look like a mutant parrot and is given nothing to do except scream and stomp about.