by Shane Conto
What do you get when you take a WWII film plus some action, plus some suspense, plus a creature feature, plus some mystery surrounding a top-secret package? You get a crazy flick! Seems like a lot doesn’t it? It certainly is, but does that necessary mean it won’t be good? Not really…but you will have to check it out to see just how crazy it can be. Shadow in the Cloud is quite the unique film as I sat there not knowing what would happen next over the 83-minute runtime. But what can you expect from a screenplay written by Max Landis?
What does Landis bring to the table with his screenplay co-written by writer-director Roseanne Liang?
The stage is set by a traditional animated film about the dangers of gremlins…yes, gremlins. Besides being the creepy beasts from Gremlins, they are also the mythical reason for any issues on a military plane. Who knew! Apparently, those who came up with the story knew…obviously. Then we follow a young woman in the Majesty’s military board a plane with a case with mysterious and unknown orders except to protect it at all costs. She is met with sexism and hostility as she is banished to the turret. What follows is quite the mix of excessive sexist conversations that go well beyond the necessity of the scene, the heightening tension around the identity of our protagonist and her secret package, and the shocking revelations of a disturbing creature and enemy planes. Some of these things really work…and some of them do not. Once we get into the more action driven latter half, there are occurrences of zero logic. For full enjoyment of this film, you REALLY need to suspend your disbelief.
With all of these moving parts, how does Liang handle all of it?
You can certainly look at the film as a tale of two pieces. The first half is a film shrouded in mystery and tension. Liang is able to keep the knife twisting as the tension is rising. What is even more impressive is that the film stays constrained to one small gun turret for about half the runtime. Liang’s ability to build that tension is impeccable and really makes this genre flick stand tall. Then the film shifts gears as the mysteries begin to present themselves. Do they live up to the tension that is built up in the first half? Not quite. The revelations fall a little flat and then the film shifts completely into genre driven action. At least those sequences are incredibly suspenseful even if most of the physics and logic go out the window. Another interesting addition to this WWII flick is the synthesizer heavy score from Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper. Is it weird to hear music of this sort in a war film? Yeah…but it is too cool to really care!
There has been plenty of talk about the script and directing but what about the actors who bring the film to life?
Chloe Grace-Moretz gives a fantastic and driven performance that is full of energy. Grace-Moretz is asked to balance quite a few different aspects of her character as well as the character that she is trying to be and she does it impeccably. She has a tough job of anchoring the whole film with much of her role consisting of speaking to her fellow cast members over a radio. Most of their performances are just yelling, sexist, and overall just being a bunch of jerks. Grace-Moretz is the only one who really gets the opportunity to shine in this film…except for maybe the creepy CGI gremlin.
The most important question though is does it all come together?
That answer is full of mixed feelings as this film is quite the mixed bag. There are fantastic elements of this film and get me excited for more of Liang’s work. There are also elements of this film that make me wonder who the hell wrote this. Seriously…there is one moment during an incredibly shot and constructed thrilling sequence that loses all the tension due to one absurd script decision. But the film is suspenseful and full of genre thrills. If that is your kind of thing, check it out!
Grade: C+