"Crazy is building your ark after the flood has already come."

Rating: 8/10 (6 April 2016)

The trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane dropped on everyone, 2 months before the film's release. No one knew about it. Everyone went nuts over how this film could have been made, in this day of the internet, and no one know about it? The answer to that is because this film is in no way connected to the original Cloverfield film. Sorry to burst the bubble for those hoping for some kind of sequel, but this film is NOT IT.
Michelle wakes up, chained to a wall, in an underground bunker. Her captor, a man named Howard, informs her that she was just in a car accident and that the world is under some kind of attack. She doesn't believe him and desperately tries to get out...but is the unknown on the outside more safe than what she knows lies within?
The filmmakers have repeatedly stated that this film is not a sequel, nor does it take place in the same universe as the original. So what the hell is it exactly? There seems to be a bit of controversy over how the film came to be. One person says one thing, another says something else. Then you watch the film and you question both answers. Did the studio think they had a really well crafted film on their hands and wanted more people to see it? So they decided to throw the name Cloverfield onto it in the hopes of getting butts in the seats? What we DO know is that the original script, The Cellar, had nothing to do with Cloverfield. It was later crafted to be somewhat similar. Or maybe it wasn't. According to some interviews, they didn't really change anything. After watching the film, some people may find that hard to believe.
So how am I suppose to feel about this film? I'm struggling with that entire dilemma. Whether the last ten minutes or so of the film was tagged on for the Cloverfield vibe, or if it was always there, it does not really belong in this film. It doesn't flow with everything that came before it. Goodman played Howard, a conspiracy theorist who decided to build a bunker for when the world went to the dumps. In his mind, true or not, the world is going to the dumps. He just happened to save a young woman along the way. Goodman's Howard is kind, dangerous, sensitive, crazy, smart and destructive. The man is prepared for anything and everything, but is he right? That's the question that Michelle, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, needs answered and so does the audience. The film has a lot of fun going back and forth with the answer to this. You'll jump back and forth questioning him and his motives and the film is paced perfectly in peeling back the layers of the mystery surrounding the plot.
Winstead is refreshing with her take on Michelle. She's not helpless, despite her situation, she's resourceful. She's not some emotionless bad-ass either, she has many moments of uncertainty and fear. John Gallagher, Jr. plays Emmet, another man inside the bunker. He's there on his own free will, he injured himself trying to get in. This further cements Howard's claims about the outside world. Emmet isn't the smartest person, but Gallagher plays him in an innocent way that makes him instantly likable. Although, it is John Goodman who delivers a stellar performance, maybe the best of his career. His unhinged Howard will make you trust him and fear him within seconds. I can now say that I am officially scared of John Goodman.
90% of this film is off the wall intense. Everything within the bunker is an excellent film. Everything outside the bunker is bunk. I won't spoil anything that happens on the outside, but I honestly believe that it belongs in another film. Regardless of whatever half assed set up they try to pigeonhole in the dialogue. I believe this ending will split the audience, but I simply cannot talk about it any further without divulging information that in all honesty, needs to be kept secret.
10 Cloverfield Lane is at times unsettling and nerve-racking. I looked over to my wife at one moment and she looked terrified. The intense sequences are enough to make you grip your arm chair tight and in a perfect world, John Goodman would be nominated for an award. Sadly, we don't live in a perfect world and that will never happen. So please, see this film and judge it on its own merit. Do not expect or compare it to Cloverfield, you'll be disappointed and expect more anthology type Cloverfield films in the future.