Review – Movie – 10 Cloverfield Lane
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Review – Movie – 10 Cloverfield Lane

What an interesting psychological thrill ride here in 10 Cloverfield Lane.  The tagline “Monsters Come in Many Forms” is also a very appropriate descriptor, as there are monsters who are not monsters and monsters who are not monsters who are monsters.  There’s also a tiny cast, there’s only three actors involved in most of the movie, a fourth for a few minutes and a fifth who is only a very brief voice (Bradley Cooper, incidentally).

The core of the movie revolves around Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who is involved in an accident and wakes up locked in a bunker with Howard Shambler (John Goodman) and Emmitt DeWitt (John Gallagher Jr.).  According to Howard, he rescued Michelle after her accident and brought her to his underground bunker to save her from an unknown catastrophic event that has made the world above uninhabitable.  Emmitt also showed up at the bunker, having helped Howard build the place previously and this knowing of it’s existence when things in the world started to fall apart.  Howard isn’t sure if it’s aliens or nuclear fallout or just invading armies, but he knows things are not safe up above.

As the plot rolls on, things end up possibly not being too safe inside the bunker either, and is the outside world actually a radioactive alien infested dead zone?  Twists and turns to keep you guessing all the way to the end here.  The real flaw of the movie is that it’s the “Spiritual Successor” to the movie Cloverfield, and so if you know anything about Cloverfield, you kind of already have some idea of some of the truths this movie tries so hard to keep a secret.

The whole cast does an exceptional job here, especially John Goodman, who does a great job with being slightly slow and a little creepy while doing his best to just be the savior he thinks he is to Emmitt and Michelle.  It’s clear he’s not quite right in the head right from the start, just how not right is part of what keeps you wondering the whole time of his true motivations.

It’s a pretty good movie that I enjoyed a lot more than I expected.  It’s not quite a horror movie, more suspense, though it felt like it was somewhat billed as a horror film.  It’s also relatively clean with it’s PG-13 rating.

Spoiler-tastic thoughts beyond so be warned…

Review – MCU – Iron Man (2008)
Posted inMovies & TV

Review – MCU – Iron Man (2008)

05.02.2008

Way back in 2008, you kind of have to wonder just how much was really planned for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU.  It seems like there was at least a general idea for Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Hulk to get movies, then team up for The Avengers.  How much farther did it go?  Did they have plans for Ant-Man or Guardians of the Galaxy or Jessica Jones?  Did they know they would want Paul Bettany to become an onscreen character eventually in Vision when they cast him as Jarvis?

Regardless of the ultimate plan, Iron Man marks the official start of what would eventually become known as the MCU, as well as a new start to how Super Hero movies would be conducted.  Super hero movies aren’t anything new, but they tended to embrace their comic book origin whole hog and go for the super fantastical designs and effects.  The MCU, especially at the begging started off with at least some level of explanation behind everything, even if it was just a made up explanation, it would be one that worked in universe as explained.

There was also so much that just worked with Iron Man as well.  Robert Downey Junior very much fits the style and look for genius playboy Tony Stark.  The special effects are exceptionally well done, with care taken to lighting and little extra bits like shrapnel and general background visuals.  Even right out of the gate we get some hint at what’s to come and how these movies will be #ItsAllConnected with SHIELD showing up briefly trying to recruit Tony.  Iron Man is also one of the highlights of the MCU, and it holds up well with time.  It’s a basic origin story of course but it doesn’t linger and drag with the origin part which is a trap many comic movies fall into.  The best part is that the Origin itself ties in with the over arching plot across this movie and even across the entire Iron Man trilogy to some extent.

Anyway, going forward is the Spoiler filled synopsis section, so if you’re behind on your viewing, feel free to stop here.

Review – MCU – Doctor Strange (2016)
Posted inMovies & TV

Review – MCU – Doctor Strange (2016)

Marvel’s latest blockbuster is Doctor Strange, the story of a brilliant surgeon turned mystical world bending sorcerer. Unlike a lot of Marvel’s recent outings, I had almost no idea who Doctor strange was or exactly what he did before seeing this movie. My knowledge essentially amounted to something something magic, something something founded the Defenders, he seems to have a regular bad guy who is a flaming head demon guy. Also, why is he called Doctor Strange?

Turns out that wasn’t super off, he’s a Doctor because he is literally a Medical Doctor, and his big villain is the flaming skull guy, though the villain doesn’t really take that form in this outing. Short spoiler free verdict, it’s a crazy special effects fest to be sure, even better, the story is nice and straight forward, no complicated conspiracies or convoluted twists, it’s just what it is. Benedict Cumberbatch is much better as Strange than I expected coming into this, I’m not really a fan of his, though that seems to be opposite of the norm.

Basically, Marvel has another nice hit on their hands and a fine entry in the MCU.

Now on to the spoilers and detailed thoughts!