Fantastic Performances, Character, and Tension

Rating: 9/10 (6 May 2016)

10 Cloverfield Lane is the sequel to 2008's 'Cloverfield', and follows a young woman stuck in a fallout shelter with two men, one younger, and one older who believes that the world has ended and that they are the last people alive.
The plot isn't horribly unique, but it's presented in a fantastic way. Right from the beginning I knew that it would be great, and it was. It's presented in an interesting way, with the audience questioning it for the entire length. As someone who saw the first Cloverfield I think that I knew the ending, but the story was so intriguing that I didn't even think about that. I found myself questioning it myself, even when I thought about the original.
The characters are amazing. Again, from the start the character of Michelle is set up as a solid character, and I already had a good enough idea of who she was and what she was like just by the first five minutes. This is mostly due to Mary Elizabeth Winstead's performance. She was absolutely fantastic in this movie. I wondered if I'd just see 'Scott Pilgrim vs. The World's Ramona Flowers the whole time, but thankfully I didn't. But even better than Winstead was John Goodman. Goodman's character was not only deep and interesting, but portrayed in a way where I actually had to think. His character, Howard, is why you question this movie. He's creepy, he's scary, and you really don't know how to feel about this guy. Everything about him is perfect. John Gallagher Jr. delivered a solid performance as Emmett, but not as good as Goodman and Winstead. Not only were the performances great, but the characters were great. They had stories to tell from their lives, and they weren't far fetched or unrelatable. They were interesting and made the characters more lifelike. Some stories, mostly at the beginning, were left untold, but they worked much better that way. Another thing is that Michelle's character wasn't just that attractive and dumb girl in every horror/thriller, she was actually an attractive and smart girl instead. At times I thought that maybe she was too smart, though, but then again, it's not like I'm even close to the smartest person in the world, so who am I to judge someone's intelligence?
This movie is intense. I didn't expect that, but it definitely was. My attention was on this movie at all times, and when something arose I was on the edge of my seat. It's not the most intense movie I've ever seen, but I certainly felt like screaming from time to time.
I've heard people complain about the ending, but I liked it quite a bit. With everything that happened you'd almost expect it. There was one part of the ending that was extremely out of place, however, and that took me out of the moment of the movie a little bit. However, I'm happy with where the movie decided to end. It could have gone longer, but it didn't.
Overall 10 Cloverfield Lane is fantastic. As someone who loved the original Cloverfield, I certainly was not disappointed in the slightest. I'm happy it didn't go for the found footage style like the original did, and I'm happy with how different it was. While one part of the ending was out of place, it ended well for the most part. Who knows? Maybe even on my second watch I'll give it a 10/10 (I wouldn't even be surprised). In the end I would definitely recommend this movie.