There was a dazed, even murky melancholy charm to the wandering mess that was Monsters back in 2010. Hell, we didn’t even see the monsters themselves until near the end of the film. Anyone expecting more of that dreamy, eerie ambiguity shouldn’t be looking at Monsters: The Dark Continent, aka Monsters 2. Gareth Edwards, who wrote and directed the first film, is long gone – off to Godzilla (for better or worse), its sequel, and some yet-to-be-named Star Wars project.

Instead, we’ve got Monsters 2: The Dark Continent, which took nothing from the first film except the general design of the monsters themselves. This one is not set in the unnamed Central American jungle. It’s set in the Middle East. It’s a military action film, with the grim team of soldiers boo-yahing their way to vic’try against the randomly spaced (get it?) alien invaders, now appearing at various sizes. It really looks more like Monsters Go To Iraq or Hurt Locker: Monster Squad Edition. But we’ll see. It’s scheduled lumber out of the dustclouds late this year.