John Goodman owns the film

Rating: 8/10 (3 September 2017)

Over the years, John Goodman has matured into an accomplished actor, and here he hauls out every nuance he's honed during his long career. At turns he is either folksy or terrifying, transforming from one to the other within seconds. The only other actor I can think of who has added this kind of depth and range in his later years would be Michael McKean and his outstanding performance in Better Call Saul.
Unfortunately if we're talking about believable actors and their contribution to a willing suspension of disbelief, Mary Winstead and John Gallagher are just okay; neither one of them is very convincing in their respective roles. Michelle should be terrified and isn't, not even at the very end when she casually kills a giant monster with a molotov cocktail, something every dressmaker instinctively knows how to do. Emmett is a dimwit who isn't enough of a dimwit. Either go full dimwit or not at all, there is no in-between. I couldn't figure out why Howard even let him into the bunker, what purpose does he serve?
The drama is gripping for 75% of the film until it turns into something very different and unexpected, as implied above, the end scene hinting at the now mandatory franchise serialization cliff hanger demanded by the bean-counters at all the major studios so the next film in the series can hook onto it. It's disappointing and pretentious but what are you going to do, it is what it is.