John Goodman excellence in Saw esque turned Independence day

Rating: 6/10 (1 March 2019)

The first thing we see is the main character Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) supposedly running of from her boyfriend, when suddenly she ends up in a car crash. The crash itself seemed unnatural, and for some reason they decided to have the title flash in the middle of it, twice. It didn't start off on the right foot. But after that it seemed to find leverage.
One thing we see is a resemblance to the first Saw movie, only one room and the main character chained up. It has promise. At first, the scenes seem much too extended and that didn't contain any excitement. But this changed the further we went into it. The lines and delivery are just about enough to keep the scenes interesting, but the main thing that brings turmoil is the content of what they're saying. The story in this movie is a unique one indeed.
When a movie is made, solely focused on one room, you need dramatic things to happen, in a good way. This movie does just that. The story keeps unraveling as we go on, and turns out to be more and more breathtaking the deeper we go. The balance between action and calmness is also great, where there isn't more gore and activity than necessary. It is also the little things that builds up the different happenings, making for an aggressive expansion that thrills the viewer with excitement.
The conclusion is set to be a big and horrifying twist to the tale, that would have been a perfect ending to a otherwise brilliant movie. Instead they ruined it. The ending seemed rushed and unscripted, like they ran out of time and just threw something in. It was just plain weird and turned this great film into a cheap action movie.
Characterwise, they were not that interesting. Except for Goodman's Howard. Mystery surrounds him, is he telling the truth, or is he serial killer performing his frequent ritual? Well, for all the engaging depth of the character, it ended up ruined, all by the ending. It took away all the things during the movie that built up his intriguing character. However, Goodman's performance is not to be overshadowed here. He is surprisingly great as psycopath serial killer/crazy conspiracy theorist, deliviring a fenomenal performance. His acting is superior to the rest of the small cast, and he is truly over qualified for this movie, though he brings a very important piece to it.
In my opinion, Goodman is one of the most underrated actors of our generation, and deserves more praise.
When it comes together, as The Beatles sang, this movie is filled with thrilling events in a horrifying story, but is totally ruined by the ending. It was a bigger anti-climax than biting into a juicy red apple only to find out it was made of plastic. Shame.