Good enough until it ended (You did it again, Abrams!)

Rating: 7/10 (13 March 2016)

I will be honest, during the time that CLOVERFIELD dominated the hype media back in 2007, I didn't care all that much. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to see it and it maintains as good as I thought it would be, but man did the marketing got out of control. For all the time people speculated about the title, the tag line "1-18-2008", and constant ludicrous theories, I somehow became the minority when I kept saying "It is just a Monster movie BLAIR WITCH style! Get over yourselves!" I didn't even bother to care what I thought the monster actually looked like, which I apparently was also the minority on among the utterly disappointed audience who saw nothing more than just a giant lizard. As for me, I liked it enough. Sure the overall payoff sorely needed, there was really some dumb moments, and the overall film almost swayed into Overrated territory, but it still hold enough for me as far as monster movies BLAIR WITCH style goes.
With that being said, it is no surprise that I would also have mixed feelings with its "blood relative" 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE. The first 90 minutes is a solid mix of elaborate problem-solving and an even darker spin on the people-trapped-in-a-room scenario (think ROOM but in the room throughout the movie), while the last part is... underwhelming to say the least.
And it is at this point that we really could have seen this coming, especially from a Bad Robot production company. I would be the last to know how the whole JJ Abrams "mystery box" marketing for his movies actually works for me, but I would be the first to elaborate how obnoxious it gets while trying. There is a level of patronization with the conceit of playing with my expectations and having the whole thing turn up like I always thought it would be the whole time, and I HIGHLY doubt that I am on the minority on the issue. Sure, a movie as good otherwise as THE FORCE AWAKENS or even CLOVERFIELD would dismiss it entirely, but this does conjure a lot of unfulfilled expectations that might taint these films despite their quality.
But to the story. A woman named Michelle is held under supervision in an underground bunker by the man of Howard (John Goodman), who claims to save her from an impending danger up on the surface. Throughout the movie, we explore her interacting with both him and another guy while they, or rather the film, constantly hints at said impending danger that I, frankly, already know about fro the title. Things gradually get hostile with Howard, who may or may not be a closet psychopath, and the two other people find ways to piece together what is going on, and evidently escape only to face a pretty underwhelming ending.
The movies strong points is definitely when the main characters are in the bunker. Outside of mystery teasing and Howard's creepy dual nature, the script manages to bring out these characters outside of their blank-state traits. Michelle in particular is the most well- rounded of them all, as we first see her running away from personal issues only to have her think multiple ways to solve them instead throughout the movie. What was once a confused, frail woman slowly but surely shifts into a bold, outward-thinking protagonist within the confines of her unfamiliar surroundings. Sadly, the other guy (John Gallagher Jr) just doesn't grow into me other than some dude trying to be funny.
But at the end of the day, it is John Goodman who steals the show. What once framed as either kind-hearted, dignified, or just an everyman, his role might be his biggest and darkest turn for what otherwise could've been a tired crazy man stock character. Menacing and aggressive at one point, but dignified and collective in the next. He is also just a joy to watch, stealing almost every scene where he gets to lose his marbles! Had this film tanked in any way, he might still be worth at least one viewing.
Heck, even the director earns great credit here. After enjoying these 90 minutes, I am certainly keeping track of Dan Trachtenberg for now on. He follows this film with a Portal short called NO ESCAPE, and boy does it resonate just as well here. The film is somehow structured like some sort of puzzle-solving point-and-click game where the main character finds elaborate ideas and inventions to progress the story. He certainly gets this down to the tee, as well as a good eye for composition, chilling still-shots, and making claustrophobic tunnel crawling instantly engaging. For all the films based on simple sets, it is quite a feat to draw us into every punch, scream, and chase scene leading up to the big ending...
...And then the ending happened, and the quality all dips down to "meh". Without spoiling, the point at which one of the main characters steps outside of the bunker sorely disconnected me. Not only does it drag and quickly skews over to ridiculous territory, it was basically a payoff that I already expected. Seriously, if you have seen CLOVERFIELD and got fooled by the trailers into thinking of something more, you really need to check yourself. Not only that, but it feels completely distant from the other parts of the movie, as if JJ Abrams was saying instead of calling it a "blood relative," he meant to say "Look. This had nothing to do with CLOVERFIELD, so we decided to drop the name in to help the director sell more tickets!"
Above all else, the movie is quite simply solid enough for recommendation, even though it could've been more tight with the ending, the stuff before is so good that I can't fault this merely for unmet expectations
Rating: 7/10 (GOOD)