Saturday, April 2, 2016

Film Review - 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

10 Cloverfield Lane is produced by JJ Abrams and is the feature debut of Dan Trachtenburg, the story here concerns Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who ends up in the bunker of the mysterious Howard (John Goodman) who is keeping her there he claims for her safety following an alleged deadly attack but Michelle will not be an easy guest if she is being held against her will.

I really enjoyed 10 Cloverfield Lane for these reasons:

- The first is the performances, Goodman is genuinely creepy here and the film makes very excellent use of his large bulky size which alone was enough to creep me out a little, he also walks a very fine line between being nice and friendly and turning sinister and it's a line he walks very very well, I would love to see him get some Academy Award recognition next year but there's sweet fuck all chance that will happen.

Winstead meanwhile is simply outstanding and she reminded me very much not only of Sigourney Weaver from Alien but also Linda Hamilton from the Terminator in that she starts out as this very innocent woman who then has to become someone who can fight for her survival much like Sarah Connor did in the first Terminator film, I really hope that this starts a little bit of a comeback for her as she fully deserves it.

- The second is the direction by Trachtenburg as not only does he get great performances from his actors (John Gallagher Jr is also quite good here) but he also makes full use of his bunker location in terms of crafting his scenes but he also extracts a great amount of tension and creepiness out of it as well, there were numerous times where I did feel unsettled watching this film and I found that to be much more effective than the HERE'S THE BIG SCARY MOMENT OOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Yeah no, sorry guys.

- And lastly there is a great musical score by Bear McCreary which really helps to add to the suspense and the tension and again it made me feel a little unsettled.

If I do have a complaint is that the 3rd act gets a little bit wobbly as it does feel like a jarring shift from the first 2 acts but I went along with it as I was enjoying myself a great deal watching the film but I can understand the complaints some have had with that last climax.

So all in all 10 Cloverfield Lane is a great Sci-Fi thriller despite its slightly wobbly climax, 3 and a half out of 5.

No comments: