Well this was supposed to go up last week, but life got in the way. So I’m trying to put it up soon because as far as entertainment goes all everyone will be talking about soon will be Batman v Superman.
10 Colverfield Lane is a movie that I always wanted to see. It is a very tense flick with great performances that pulls a complete left-field move near the end and it’s awesome. I mean, could you imagine watching a movie like The Godfather Part II, and—spoilers—Fredo gets shot. But then, at the very last scene as Michael is looking at the camera a zombified Fredo breaks through the window and starts to feast on Michael’s big crime lord brain. It makes no sense, but admit it, that would be awesome! Or let’s say that at the end of Gravity when Sandra Bullock finally makes it back and she emerges out of the pod only to get attacked by a huge alligator that she must then fight. Actually, that last one could’ve been very possible based on the amount of bad luck she has in the movie.
10 Cloverfield Lane is essentially two movies in one, and both of those movies are great. Like all great Die Hard movies, 10 Cloverfield Lane began life having nothing to do with the franchise it would eventually get included in. Instead, it was a script called The Cellar. The script originally dealt with a woman waking up in a doomsday bunker after an accident only to be told by her captor that the world outside is uninhabitable. When Abrams and co. got hold of the script they tweaked it and gave it a connection to the Cloverfield franchise. Even without this connection the movie would’ve been very good, but thanks to Abrams’ name recognition it has definitely gotten the popularity it deserves.
The main premise remains the same. Michelle, played excellently by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, wakes up in an underground shelter after a car accident. Her “savior” Howard (John Goodman) tells her that there was some sort of attack that has made the outside world dangerous and uninhabitable. Emmet (John Gallagher Jr.) a friend of Howard’s corroborates his story. Though initially skeptical of what has happened, certain events lead Michelle to believe that something awful may have actually occurred outside. But inside may not be so safe either.
The tension in this movie is thick, and it keeps building and building. Part of it is the claustrophobic confines of the bunker. Not helping the situation is Howard’s instability and turn-on-a-dime mood changes. It quite shocks me how impressively scary Goodman could be. The man’s size really comes into play in this movie and when he gets in your way it is frightening. He’s completely bonkers, or is he? There is a strong possibility that Howard is actually telling the truth, and therein lays the central conflict. Is this guy all out insane, or is he the only sane person there.
The real star of the movie is Michelle. Minutes after waking up in the bunker and assessing her situation she’s already devising a plan to escape. Fearless, she has no qualms resorting to dirty tactics and violence in order to execute her plans. While she is impressive during the movie, she truly shines in and carries the movie in the third act. Honestly, she’s like Sandra Bullock’s character in Gravity if that character was more self-reliant and capable straight from the beginning.
While the whole movie is a great study in how to build atmosphere and tension, it’s the ending that takes that tension and just sets it on fire. I can’t really talk about what happens in the end, but it’s great. Think of the movie Cabin in the Woods when, in the final act, all of the monsters are let out and utter madness and total chaos ensues. Well, similar thing—but on a much smaller scale—here. It’s like watching two separate yet equally awesome movies get rolled into one,
Cloverfield was a functional movie that had such a strong marketing campaign to create buzz. Since that movie and its end cliffhanger good amounts of people were hoping to get a sequel. 10 Cloverfield Lane is not that sequel. Instead, it is a sort of relative to Cloverfield that completely overshadows Abrams big movie monster. Forget about a Cloverfield sequel because I want to spend more time with Michelle and see a sequel to 10 Cloverfield Lane.
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