Trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane, an American psychological thriller film. Directed by Dan Trachtenberg, and stars John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Gallagher Jr. It’s a spiritual sequel to the 2008 monster movie Cloverfield. In theatres in March in America, and April in Malaysia.
The film was developed from a spec script titled The Cellar. The story follows a woman who, after a car crash, wakes up in a doomsday bunker with two men who insist that a catastrophic event (from the first movie, although not originally so in the script) has left the earth surface uninhabitable.
Seems like a decent thriller film, as the woman ponders between trusting the men or escaping instead. The plot could work as a standalone movie, but the Cloverfield producers decide to pair this up with the franchise, and it could create some huge spoilers for the new movie. People who’ve watched the first instalment know what has happened, and it might take away the surprise element.
I’ve not watched the original film because of motion sickness (with found footage stuff) but I know what it’s about. I actually think that it’s a clever way to make a sequel – with seemingly unrelated story which somehow connects to the main event. The potential is limitless, they can make this into a huge franchise. The challenge though, is to keep the suspense and not making this into a spoiler fest.
Review and updates
It’s a decent movie, could have been better if it’s a standalone production instead. As suspected, the Cloverfield linkup took away the suspense especially in the second half of the film. The ending is anticlimactic too, feels like they insert the last 10-15 minutes just to make it relevant to the franchise. The final parts are unnecessary, and the execution is poor regardless.
The storytelling is good in the first half though; it’s pretty intense when there’s still element of surprise early on. The cast did well too, and John Goodman is simply amazing. Overall it’s still a good movie despite some flaws. Again, could have been better if it’s a standalone film, but I guess it won’t perform as well in the box office if that’s the case. And money speaks loudest in Hollywood.
Update 2018 – Check out the trailer and my review for the new instalment, The Cloverfield Paradox.
