Shadow in the Cloud

Imagine a double feature. Imagine taking the powerful, claustrophobic WWII drama "Das Boot" (1981) and immediately following it with "Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus" (2009). Afterwards you can bet the cleaning crews will be scraping rancid vegetables off the movie screen all night. And, from the look of most reviews on imdb, that's how many viewers reacted to this flick.

"Shadow in the Cloud" is really 2 different movies, and if you plan on riding it all the way through without a dumpster full of rotten produce, you have to realize when it shifts. The first act is a powerful, minimalist drama which is really along the lines of "Das Boot" (a tense drama set entirely in a dark, cramped submarine). The entire first part of "Shadow" is just Chloë Grace Moretz stuck in a cramped 5ft square ball turret on the belly of a B-17 Flying Fortress. The camera remains exclusively on her as she delivers a fantastic performance that could've easily been a 1 act play.

But be prepared. Abruptly, the entire film shifts to an action packed popcorn flick. If you can swallow this, you'll have a wild ride all the way to the end. But if you continue expecting this film to be a heavy, realistic drama, you will certainly be as irritated as if a German U-Boat were to suddenly fly up into the sky and get eaten by a prehistoric shark. (For the record, I consider both "Das Boot" & "Mega Shark" to be masterpieces of cinematic genius.)

You may have noticed that I haven't said a word about the plot. That's deliberate. I was told to go into this film blindly, which I did, and maybe that's the key to swallowing all the twists, turns, and violations of the laws of physics that happen. I mean, hey, if we can accept that a dude can dress up as a bat with a Home Depot tool belt and save the world multiple times, why can't we have fun with a wildly inventive thriller set on a WWII airplane?

Just saw this one via the Toronto Film Festival. Starts off with a really cool, retro-John Carpenter feel and the build-up is pretty tense and fittingly claustrophobic. However as the movie plays on the characters begin to become cartoons and the message of the film, while positive, becomes increasingly ham-fisted.

And then comes the final act. The tone takes an incredulous 180 and never recovers.

Too bad, cause it had potential.

My jaw nearly hit the floor when the credits rolled and i saw Max Landis listed as writer. Had absolutely no clue up till now that he was involved. Looks like they are trying really hard to scrub him, and I wonder if re-writes contributed to the inconsistencies of the film.

Chloe Frace Moretz is very good in this role for what she is given to work with and you can definitely tell that she is an actress with a lot of range and potential. Sadly, even her performance cannot hide the poor writing.

I was completely baffled when I saw Max Landis in the writing credits. Maybe that's the reason why some parts of the script was poor.

First things first, if you complain about unbelievable things happening in a movie about gremlins attacking an airplane, you need to have your opinion license permanently revoked.

"Shadow in the Cloud" is obviously meant to be viewed as a simple comic book style rip-roaring WWII adventure to be enjoyed like a cheeseburger or a pint of ice cream and not to be deeply analyzed for plot depth and realism. The hordes of egotists falling over themselves to prove how "above it all" they are need to loosen up and switch to decaff. Yes, absolutely ludicrous things happen in this movie, and that's what makes it fun! Is everyone really so hopped up on dopamine from constantly scrolling through social media that they can't let go and enjoy a zany movie?

Chloe Moretz' performance was captivating and thrilling from start to finish. These are the kind of roles she was born to play and it was clear that she had an absolute blast making the movie. The rest of the cast were clearly there to be functional, forgettable cardboard cutouts, and the energy of the movie would have suffered if they'd been directed to draw attention away from the main character.

I'm confident that in a decade this movie will be found on film lists under the heading "Cult movies that were despised on release". I'd love to see a sequel!

Shadow in the Cloud: Feels like a mix between the Amazing Stories episode "The Mission", The Twilight Zone episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet and Memphis Belle, with even a homage to Aliens. Maude (Chloe Grace Moretz) hitches a ride on a B-17 going from Auckland to Samoa, she's carrying secret documents but even though she's a WAAF pilot the crew give her a hard time. She has to go into the belly bubble gun-turret for take off but ends up being trapped there. Then a gremlin, a large bat/rat/ape creature appears and starts damaging a wing and attacking her turret, the crew disbelieve her at first. Much of the action is based in the bubble and the outside of the plane, with the airmen only being heard over the intercom until Moretz gets back into the fuselage. It's not just the monster that they have to fear though, Japanese Zeros also attack. The gremlin is quite convincing as are the hand to hand battles with it and the dog fights with the Zeros. Some of the events do require a suspension of disbelief but Moretz literally kicks gremlin, misogynist and Zero ass. A couple of interesting plot twists makes this into an Air Ace scary pulp story. Directed and Co-written by Roseanne Liang. 7/10.