10 Cloverfield Lane Movie Review (2016)
10 Cloverfield Lane is the semi-sequel to the hit movie Cloverfield. It's an intense & creepy post apocalyptic alien movie.
This movie is about a woman who gets in a car accident, and is taken to a bunker by a man. The man claims the outside world is affected by a widespread chemical attack and tells her she needs to stay in the bunker for 1-2 years with him and his friend and things become tense & creepy as the movie progresses. This movie was directed by Dan Trachtenberg and as his first film it's a great debut. I'm looking forward to his future work. The three main characters in this movie are Howard the person who owns the bunker, Emmett a friendly neighbor who helped build the bunker, and Michelle the person Howard saved from the car accident and took to his bunker. In the beginning of the movie we see Michelle packing her things and leaving her wedding ring. We can only assume her husband cheated on her. He keeps calling her and she looks down to answer it and Bang! She gets in a car accident then the creepy music plays and we see the title of the film. She wakes up handcuffed to a pipe and Howard explains to her that the world is under attack and that they have to stay in the bunker because the air is contaminated.
This movie is outstanding. It's better than Cloverfield in every aspect. It's executed so much better. The camerawork is better since it's not found footage, the writing is improved. No surprise there though, since the script was penned by the Whiplash director/writer Damien Chazelle. The story is much better, it's so tension filled and the third act is outstanding. This movie is slower though and drags at certain points in the bunker. John Goodman steals every scene with the very creepy character he plays and he gives an amazing performance. Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Michelle) and John Gallagher Jr. also give very good performances. It's also, surprisingly, a very funny movie. The audience in the theater laughed at many points during the film. The soundtrack is perfect for this movie, certain scenes are enhanced by the tension it produces. The dialogue is also really good, John Goodman has a lot of memorable lines. There are a lot of surprising movements and shocking plot twists. There is a very intense car crash scene that is shot in a unique way. The actors play off each other very well. There is good character development when Michelle and Emmett tell each other stories, we learn more about each character.
I don't have many problems with this movie. It takes a while for the movie to start just like Cloverfield. I also felt the story dragged too much in the bunker. They also spent way too much time in the bunker. They should've extended the third act and cut some scenes from the bunker, this would also shorten the film, which would make it more enjoyable. Great open ending, a much better ending than Cloverfield's ending which ended too abruptly, this one ends with us wanting more. This is my favorite post apocalyptic movie because of how well it was executed. Even though they don't explain the relationship between the two films, I think we can look forward to some answers in a very possible third film and I really hope they make a third one. Great movie check it out this weekend!
