First off, do yourself a favor and STOP watching any and all trailers for this movie. I saw the initial trailer back in late January and that was it for me. I avoided everything else so that I could go into the film as blindly as possible. And it made a difference. Secondly, do everything in your power to separate the original film from this one as best as possible. The first one was a nice little surprise, but it suffers re-watch value because of its use of the incredibly tired 'found footage' trope. It would be a near-perfect monster movie if we didn't have to follow around the film with a shaky cam and the quippy voice of, now famous, TJ Miller. 10 Cloverfield Lane doesn't really have much to do with the original, but believe me when I say... it's definitely a Cloverfield-esque ride. I know it's only March, but this is the best movie of the year so far.
I'm not going to do much of a plot breakdown because, like I said, you should go into the film with as little knowledge as possible. What you've seen on the original trailer is this: Melissa (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is trapped in an underground bunker, with a broken leg handcuffed to the rail and her captor Howard (John freakin' Goodman) is a sinister dude who may or may not be completely insane. There's also another dude there with a broken arm named Emmett (John Gallagher, Jr.). Melissa was in a car crash and saved by Howard before a global "attack" which forced him to lock them inside said bunker where they can't leave for at least a couple of years. Initially Melissa doesn't believe a word the socially inept Howard says, but things start to happen that send her questioning if she was actually kidnapped or if the hell she's in currently is not as bad as the hell happening outside.
It's a great concept for a wonderful hybrid film. This easily could've been a standalone kidnapping film without any of the Cloverfield alien stuff lurking in the back of your mind, because the scenes with Melissa, Emmett and Howard are the best moments of the film. They're tense, they're frightening, and they're the most gut-churning. We all know John Goodman as the lovable dad and here he's anything but. He's a nutty conspiracy theorist who doesn't know how to interact with other humans. He'll say something that leads you to believe that he's a murderous killing psychopath and the next, he'll be friendly and you'll wonder if it's all in your head (like Melissa does the ENTIRE film). It's a brilliant character played brilliantly by a brilliant actor. It's almost uncomfortable watching Goodman portray this, at the very least, Aspbergers'd up nutjob. It's a terrifying little puzzle you're trying to put together all the while having flashes in your mind remembering that this is still a Cloverfield movie so literally anything can happen.
This film has strong writing that benefits strong characters. Goodman, who switches back from villain to hero to villain again is only so good because his character was written so complexly. Melissa is a great strong, female character. Never once is she damsel in distress. From the moment she wakes up chained to a pipe, she's got a plan. She doesn't sit and cry about it, she's ready to get the hell out of there. Every character turn Howard makes, Melissa has a plan. Every time it appears he's docile and telling the truth, she's still ready for anything. Even better is they don't try to have some sort of forced romance between her and Emmett. This movie knows what it is and it doesn't deviate.
So, having spoiled nothing for you, hopefully you understand how original and how creative this movie actually is. There's something here that you will like and if you're a fan of consistently feeling nervous throughout a film, this one will knock you on your ass. I still can't get over how great this movie was and it was filmed in secret. No one knew it existed until the trailer leaked online a few months ago. What a refreshing treat. I love that it takes the concept of movie monster and breaks it down a few ways: yes, it's Cloverfield so you're already under the assumption that there will be a monster, but there's also Goodman's monster. He's a monster that may or may not actually be a monster. It's a perfect metaphor. Stop watching previews for this movie, stop reading reviews for it, and go see the film. Just thank the Lord it wasn't a found footage movie. It's awesome.
A
No comments:
Post a Comment