There's a certain type of thriller movie in which filmmakers try to bring something different to the table by designing a plot with the main character getting stuck in a single location while having to deal with a series of life-and-death situations. This is quite challenging as it forces the director, writer and actor to step up their game as there is limited space and scenery and most of the time, they fail to pull it off.
This is exactly what happened in Shadow In The Cloud, a new action-fantasy thriller by Roseanne Liang which features Chloë Grace Moretz as a female World War II pilot who joins a crew on a bomber aircraft and has to battle both sexists and gremlins. While there's nothing wrong with the performance or the lack of variety of shoot locations, the movie suffers from poor writing and a messy mash-up of World War II air combat, monster invasion and feminism.
Although the film is set in 1943, the visuals in Shadow In The Cloud are presented in a modern style. The cinematography of the movie is remarkable with dark but vivid colours which contrasts the music, which had that Stranger Things retro-futuristic synth feel. Moretz is definitely the star as she's the sole person we see for 80% of the film without any appearance by a supporting actor. It is just her in this one location. In fact, I think she single-handedly makes this movie watchable. The effort in her performance is able to create a character that I think we can invest more in than the storyline itself.
The film opens with Maude Garrett (Moretz), a female flight officer who's due to leave for an assignment from Auckland, New Zealand, in 1943. Tasked with protecting a top-secret package, she hitches a lift and joins the all-male crew of a B-17 bomber just before the aircraft is set to take off. Since there is no empty seat available, Maude is forced to climb down into the gunner's turret under the plane. However, somehow the door becomes jammed and she gets stuck in the turret. As a result, she begins to listen in on the radio as it becomes the only source of communication with the rest of the crew at that point.
This is where interesting dialogue was required because the character is spending most of the film in a tight and enclosed environment. If the dialogue isn't there, you're going to have a lot of boring moments throughout the film and that is exactly what happens in this movie. What Maude hears from the crew is beyond offensive as the men begin to verbally harass her and act misogynistic with crude comments. The character design of these men feels ridiculous, much like how every guy in Wonder Woman 1984 has an aversion towards any female they see. So what you get over the course of 40 minutes is having to listen to uninteresting dialogue between characters, such as how these men want to get into her pants and no matter how hard she tries to report to them that she is seeing a strange creature on the plane, nobody listens to her. So, I don't think the movie is strong enough to carry this static setting.
As soon as the plot begins to unravel with the mystery of this package, that's where I feel like the movie begins to go downhill. Moreover, in the last 20 minutes, the premise begins to shift gears and it goes into a completely new direction, from suspense and monster movie to Mission Impossible-type action and woman empowerment instead, as we see Maude shoot down enemy aircraft while doing an acrobatic fight with this gremlin creature on the wing of the plane. This was so silly and so over the top that I was rolling my eyes.
While I understand that there is a strong female lead, there's nothing wrong with that. However, the character was developed in such a poor way. The film does not set it up well enough to the point where this character earns her stripes or becomes this person we really care about as viewers. At the end of the day, regardless of whether you have a male lead or a female lead, they are all characters and you must have them justify their actions. This movie has a very strong and clear anti-sexism message I can get behind but when things started getting wacky, it diluted that important message and perhaps even did a disservice to it.
Moretz certainly does give her all in Shadow In The Cloud but her appealing character isn't enough to save a story that's really messy and all over the place. I'd highly recommend saving your money and skipping this film altogether.
- Shadow In The Cloud
- Starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Beulah Koale
- Directed by Roseanne Liang
