Complicated but ultimately worthwhile films

Rating: 9/10 (24 October 2018)

This is a complicated film to evaluate:
The first 90% of the film is an absolutely brilliant character-driven thriller set in the claustrophobic confines of an emergency bunker and was as sharply acted as a cerebral Broadway play. The tense, complex plot included the ever fluctuating question of Howard's sanity, in stellar performance by John Goodman; the chemistry between the 3 actors is top-notch as their characters' relationships shift and deteriorate; and then the suspenseful, violent semi-finale was ultra compelling. But then there's the controversial final ending:
I agree with other reviews that the sudden alien attack is extremely disjointed, but altogether, I actually think it kind of works. First of all, it turned out that Howard _was_telling the truth, and the world as they knew it was no longer safe. And yet, given how things unfolded in the bunker, it raises the core philosophical theme of the movie: What is worse, the monsters that attack us, or the monsters in ourselves?
Secondly, this also worked as a sequel--the first film was about the initial invasion of the Godzilla-like creature and similar monsters, while this movie was about the full blown invasion.
Also, I actually think the Cloverfield films are refreshingly realistic depictions of what what would happen in such a disaster: Will Smith doesn't zoom in with a fighter jet to save the day, and The Rock won't march us to safety as he punches out everything in his path. As both Cloverfield films depict, people will freak out, turn on each other, make incredibly stupid decisions, but somehow a few survive to fight another day. And each movie shows a distinct perspective: the first Cloverfield movie could be taken as a broad depiction of how the disaster sweeps through millions in the cities, while this second film is an intimate portrait of how people in isolation deal with the same/similar disaster.
Overall, I highly recommend this as a strong stand-alone film, as well as the clear standout of the Cloverfield series.