Original was better! 5/10

Rating: 5/10 (22 October 2016)

Review: This movie is definitely 2 stories in one! The first half is about a teenage girl, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who wakes up in a bunker, handcuffed to a bed, after being in a severe car accident. Whilst being tied about against her will, Howard, (John Goodman) tries to convince her that he is trying to save her life because the air is polluted and earth has been attacked by aliens but Michelle doesn't believe a word of it. Also in the bunker is Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.), who actually fought to get in the bunker after witnessing strange supernatural activity on earth. After a while, Michelle and Emmett start to investigate the bunker, and they find weird information about Howard, which just doesn't add up. Michelle then tries to put together a suit, so she can survive in the polluted air but Howard is always 2 steps ahead. This the first part of the movie but then it switches to a human vs. Alien type movie, which is much better than the intriguing beginning. The second part of the movie seemed rushed, which is a shame because the intensity was brilliant. The bunker element was a bit slow and there wasn't a full explanation about Howard's behaviour. As there is only 3 characters in the movie, and there isn't much depth about there past, the performances had to be spot on for a movie like this to get the audience interested in the storyline, and I must admit, they did pull it off. Goodman was great as Howard and Mary played Michelle convincingly but there was way too many scenes in the bunker, which could have been easily taken out of the final cut. It's still a watchable movie which cover many elements of a horror/thriller but the first movie had the intensity from the beginning to end. Watchable!
Round-Up: This is the first movie directed by Dan Trachtenberg, who had a big task after the success of the first movie, which was directed by Matt Reeves. With J.J. Abrams back in the producers chair, along with Matt Reeves, they chose to take the Cloverfield franchise in a different direction with this movie but they stuck with the "Aliens destroying earth" concept. It's hard to say if Howard was a good, or bad guy, because his intentions were innocent but he had this shady past and some of his actions were unnecessary. Anyway, I really enjoyed the ending, and I thought the weird looking alien creature, was original and pretty scary but I personally was expecting more from this sequel, especially after waiting so long for the sequel.
Budget: $15million Worldwide Gross: $110million
I recommend this movie to people who are into their drama/horror/mystery/sci-fi/thrillers, starring John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher Jr., Douglas M. Griffin and Suzanne Cryer. 5/10