Tuesday, January 3, 2017

10 Cloverfield Lane Movie Review 440






10 Cloverfield Lane is a 2016 sci-fi/thriller movie sequel directed by Dan Trachtenberg and starring John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Gallagher Jr.



Michelle(Winstead) is a young woman who has fallen out with her boyfriend. She drives off in her car through Louisiana. She hears that there is something happening on the radio but she crashes her car when she hits something. She wakes up in a room where she has been chained. Her leg is hurt and she is terrified. A man comes in to talk to her. His name is Howard(Goodman) and he tries to help her but she is very wary of him. He tells her that there has been some sort of attack. He doesn't know if it is nuclear or alien and he tells her that she cannot go outside because the air is contaminated. She doesn't believe him.
 

It turns out that she is in Howard's bunker and that he has been preparing for this for years. He has everything that you could want in his place. He is a little odd though and he insists on keeping the place neat and tidy. Michelle meets a guy there called Emmet(Gallagher Jr.) and they talk. He tells her that he used to work for Howard and then when the invasion happened, he made sure he was in the bunker. Michelle steals his keys to the bunker and she is going to escape when a woman with horrible injuries to her skin bangs on the door begging to be let inside. Sh becomes violent when Michelle doesn't open the door. Howard tells Michelle that that is what happens to people outside.
Michelle finally believes him. She realises that Howard hit her on purpose but he explains that he was upset and he didn't realise what he was doing. They all settle down in the bunker, adjusting to life there.



Michelle becomes suspicious of Howard when he talks about his daughter, but doesn't say what has happened to her. He shows Michelle a picture of a young girl and says that it is his daughter, but it is actually a missing girl. Michelle tells Emmet and they come up with a plan to make a protective suit so that they can go outside and escape. Unfortunately, Howard is clever and he finds out what they are doing. He asks them what they were doing and Emmet takes the blame. Howard shoots him dead. Michelle is horrified and she realises that Howard is dangerous. She continues making her suit and bides her time until she can get out. He knows what she is doing and things turn nasty. She manages to get outside in her suit and causes a fire which makes the bunker explode. She sees aliens outside and realises that Howard was telling the truth. SPOILER ALERT!!!She hides from them and manages to blow up one of their ships . She drives off and thinks that she is safe but there are loads of ships in the sky. She hears on the radio that there are survivors and she drives to Houston to meet them.


I liked this movie a lot. I liked the storyline and I liked Goodman's portrayal of the odd Howard. He plays it perfectly and you do wonder what is behind his seemingly normal facade. I really think that the story was interesting. Is there really an invasion? Is it nuclear or chemical? Is Howard a total weirdo who tells lies to trap people in his bunker? So many possibilities here and this did keep me guessing about what would happen next. I liked Cloverfield and really enjoyed it but the found footage camerawork was hard on the eyes. This is easier to watch and I like the way that it ties in with the original. There will be a third movie and I will be interested to see where the story goes from here. This movie belongs to Goodman who is perfect as Howard. The other two were watchable, but Goodman steals the show. I will give it an 8/10.





2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great movie and you're right, John Goodman stole the show. His character was interesting and he played it perfectly. The first one and the bouncing camera was way too much for my eyes but this one was much better. I look forward to the third.

Amanda said...

Me too!

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