Rating of
3/4
As the tagline goes, monsters come in all forms...
Indyfreak - wrote on 03/17/16
Dan Trachtenberg makes a great directorial debut with this spiritual successor to 2008's sleeper hit 'Cloverfield'. I say that because I feel compelled to inform readers that whatever you expect because of the word 'Cloverfield' in the title, CHUCK IT OUT THE WINDOW. This is its own movie and honestly '10 Cloverfield Lane' is a superior movie to plain old 'Cloverfield'. Better actors, a tighter script, and serious genuinely masterfully staged tension and suspense. Most of it is courtesy of John Goodman who plays the unstable survivalist Howard who's taken underground to his bunker with two unnerved 'guests' played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Gallagher Jr.
Winstead again plays a smart and sensible female character who could have easily been a dumbed down damsel-in-distress. She's resourceful, she's capable, and emotional when the screenplay calls for it. Gallagher is someone I'm unfamiliar with but I hope to see him in more high profile projects. He's charming wtihout being cocky and sensitive without overplaying it. Carrying the film over his massive shoulders attached to his hulking frame is John Goodman who's scary, funny, and crafty as Howard.
The movie's sense of space is limited which enhances the claustrophobic atmosphere and the suspense never feels manufactured .At least in the way you'd expect from hack writers.
10 Cloverfield Lane is a pleasant surprise for early 2016 as far as movies go and it's one I would actually like to see more stories added to the film's fictitious universe in the future.
