Talent Carries A Suspense Feature Throwback

Rating: 8/10 (19 March 2016)

I have looked at the youngsters reviewing this and I have to say that they lack the knowledge to look at this film objectively for a couple of reasons. First, a lot of them are too young to know what a good suspense film is all about. Second, they are looking for a sequel which while the title might suggest it is, the film stands alone on it's own. I have never seen the original Cloverfield, so I did not have an idiotic bias going to see this one. The lesson to be learned here is do not think because a title is partly the same, that your going to a sequel. None of the cast in this film appeared in the earlier one and the only relationship it has is the JJ Abrams guy and he has done a variety of things besides these films.
As for the film, a lot of the old suspense films that are classics take a fair amount of time developing the first action. The classic Hitchcock film Psycho takes about 20 minutes or more developing Janet Leigh's character before it really gets into the creepy suspense. This movie takes about 5 minutes and starts the action with Mary Elizabeth Winstead right in the opening credits.
The spacing of the accident in the credits and then Michelle waking up are done almost perfectly. She wakes up locked up, shackled, with an IV in her arm and in a bomb shelter. It is this initial change that tells the viewer something different is coming in this one.Then she tries to get to her cell phone and when she gets it realizes she has no service.
Then Michelle finds herself at the mercy and debt of Howard (John Goodman). In this one, Goodman shows off his dramatic skills as one of the better actors around who does not get enough lead roles. In this one he is solid and even creepy. The plot is written to keep everyone guessing as to what the reality of this is. Then Michelle gets introduced to Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.) who is the other person Howard let into the bunker.
Howard is very convincing about the story of them needing to stay in the bunker, though not real clear about why. Emmett assures Michelle that he fought his way into the bunker because he knows there is a problem outside, but is not real clear about what the problem is either. So Michelle has to make a choice who to trust. Both Howard and Emmett make cases to her about that.
In the sum, we have an old plot device here known as character development. It is something that CGI audiences waiting for the next explosion do not understand well, and is done brilliantly here. Michelle chooses to trust Emmett because she can relate to him much better than Howard who seems to jump at any shadow that he feels is a threat to him.
Then there is the back story about Howard's wife and daughter who have seemingly left him. When he tells Michelle about a photo he says is his daughter, Emmett then informs Michelle she is not because he knows who she is. This makes Howard even creepier.
From here a lot happens in the shelter, and the viewer, much less Michelle are really left guessing what is the real situation as there are few clues that add up to anything. From here, I will leave you guessing what comes next because this is the set up.
The ending is really unexpected, for us folks who remember the old films with the happy ones. While the ending is different, it does leave open an actual possible sequel which could have lots of those CGI effects modern movie viewers often demand.
One thing that does not relate to the movie but does relate to John Goodman, in 1993 he did a pretty good comedy called MatinÃ©e in which atomic attack, 1950's Sci-Fi, and coincidentally a bomb shelter are a part of the plot. Schlock producer Lawrence Woolsey's only relationship to this movie is Goodman breaks into a bomb shelter in that one. Goodman is more of a star in this movie.
Still this movie in a way brings back the cold war theme in a totally reverse sort of way. The action and development create solid suspense and late in the film some of the hand held camera technique is used. If Alfred Hitchcock were still alive, I would like to have seen what he could have done with the camera work and suspense of this one. While it is not the master at work, this does come off pretty well overall.
This movie ends in a new normal, very appropriate at this time.