Director: Dan Trachtenberg
Cast Headliners : Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman
Original Release Date : March 11th, 2016
10
Cloverfield Lane is an incredibly interesting situation. The movie,
originally seen on release schedules and in the industry as “The
Cellar” and “Valencia” seemed to be an original idea about a
man trapping someone in a basement. No franchise connections, no
supernatural connections, little else knowng besides Mary Elizabeth
Winstead and John Goodman's involvement. Well in typical fashion of
JJ Abrams (producer only here), it was revealed at the last minute to
be part of the Cloverfield franchise. But fortunately for it, what
that means is very little as its a film that stands very much on its
own unique merits for the most part. Compared to the wonky
first-person camera and monster movie destruction of that this film
is a extremely more contained, better looking, and overall film than
that.
The film starts as
Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) leaves her partner and life behind
to head off into the countryside. The film quickly shifts from dark
to shocking as she become involved in a car accident and wakes up
locked away in the deep underground cell of Howard (John Goodman) who
resides there along with Emmett (John Gallagher Jr). Michelle is
terrified and knows little of what's going on, as does the audience.
If this situation wasn't tense enough, Howard soon claims that the
world has suffered a apocalyptic event and the three of them must now
survive in his shelter. But what's unknown is if he's telling the
truth.
The movie
essentially just has these three character's for its entire duration,
which makes for a dramatic, dark, and isolated set of circumstances.
Each is strongly defined on their own. MEW does solidly as Michelle,
who shows a resourceful and eventually even heroic side over the
course of the film as she goes from captive to more. Emmett offers
more of a average joe, non-questioning role in this. Their
interplay is pretty good, and then things are raised the more Howard
is given a chance to “Shine.”
Goodman's Howard is
an great , unique, dark presence to the film. It's very much outside
of type for him, and he offers a scene chewing role as his crazed
conspiracy theorist. He's crazy, loony, fearsome, and creepy all at
once. To delve more would give away spoilers that are so key to this
experience, but suffice to say Howard is definitely unforgettable and
a enigma and foil to the other two residents in the bunker. This
film does a much better job at making one care about its characters,
whether good or evil, then many in the genre and especially its
predecessor. Whether feeling stressed or even the natural and
surprising chuckle, it all works solidly.
The scenes and plot
progression make for a intense set of possible lies and close calls.
The situation seems to change every few moments as more possible
truths are revealed and things happen. The pacing makes a pretty
delicate blend between dramatic arguments typical of the genre and
chances to delve a bit deeper emotionally or humorously. This is
aided by solid, and thankfully normal, directing by Dan Trachetnberg.
Perhaps one gripe is that even with this new perspective some things
remain a bit unclear at times in frenetic sequences, but perhaps
that's intentional.
While most of the
film is a interesting and creepy descent into a web of lies and human
madness, it must be said that a portion of it is very different, from
whence it gets the “Cloverfield” in its name. Without revealing
specifics, it nearly feels like a different movie and perhaps a bit
“tacked on.” But only slightly so, and that's due to
its...contents. But it fits into the climatic events around which it
occurs and by the point it occurs in the narrative, its a natural and
exciting fit.
For a movie with a
small set of characters in basically a single location, 10
Cloverfield Lane packs a pretty big punch. It blows away the
franchise it is tacked onto, and sets itself as its own identity.
From its heroes to its , surprisingly human, scary opposing forces
its a solid set of lies and intense situations. 8.1 out of 10
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