Ryder: 10 Cloverfield Lane

10 CLOVERFIELD LANE (2016)
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While 10 Cloverfield Lane feels less like a traditional sequel to Cloverfield and more like a spin-off, J.J. Abrams has went on record that the two movies were intended to have a more "Twilight Zone" kind of vibe. In other words, you can consider this to be episode 2 of the Cloverfield movie series. But to honest, I don't really see any need to include the "Cloverfield" title to it. Aside from the last 10 minutes of the film, there really isn't much relation between the first film and the second one, thematically or otherwise. You could pretty much slap any other apocalypse into the story and it would still work just as effectively.

That minor peeve aside, I did enjoy this taut thriller. It has a way of toying with your mind, subverting your expectations, making you question whether if Howard Stambler (John Goodman) is legitimately a good person trying to protect our protagonist, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), or if he's truly a loony bin conspiracy nutcase, a homicide waiting to happen. The answer is actually pretty clear-cut by the end of the movie, unfortunately, as I had hoped that it would be left more ambiguous, and that the paranoia factor on Michelle's side would be played up more so that we would be guessing who's the really crazy one here.

Speaking of things being clear-cut, the ending itself was also wrapped up a bit too nicely, with a ribbon on the top. The character matures by the end and has learned her lesson of the day, yada yada yada. If you've seen movies with completed character growth, you won't find anything new here. Everything is laid out for you at the end, and the movie feels almost dumbed down compared to its first and second act.

That being said, the rest of the movie up to its third act was great. For those looking for a thriller that plays your expectations against you, look no further than 10 Cloverfield Lane.

7/10

 

Heard about it, never saw it. I just might though.

 

Nice Review , I personally quite enjoyed the film, it had somewhat of a different nature to it than some of the other films Ive seen. I think the core of this film did revolve around Howard , how did he get where he was, and as you said, is this man truly trust worthy. The film does toy with your mind, as at some points I was quite unsure what the hell was going on, is this a hoax? is this real? which I loved. Also I never knew it was related to the actual film cloverfield , when I saw the title of the movie , I simply thought thats just the title hah.