In flight entertainment

Got to catch up with a few movies on the flights to and from England.

First was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies which was merely ok. The cast and productions values were fine, but it works better as a Jane Austen adaptation than a zombie movie (and there are far better Austen movies out there). I pretty much forgot it by the time the credits rolled.

Next I watched Tomorrowland, which was actually better than I thought it would be. I liked the slow build before we get to the titular location and Britt Robertson makes an appealing hero. The visual design was wonderful, especially the various futuristic gadgets. I also appreciated the message of the film that mankind is too focussed on dystopia. But ultimately the plot is too meandering and disjointed for it to be more than an ambitious failure.

I saved the best for last with 10 Cloverfield Lane. This "spiritual" successor to Cloverfield abandons the found footage aspect and (for most of the running time) the monsters too. Instead it focusses on three characters trapped in a bunker when some unknown cataclysm takes place outside. The cast is excellent, with Mary Elizabeth Winstead as winsome and likable as usual and John Goodman both hilarious and frightening as her captor who claims he is acting in her best interests (the charades scene is a classic). The tension is nicely ratcheted up until the explosive finale, when we finally get to see what has happened above ground. The monster showdown undoubtedly will turn off some audiences after the claustrophobic first two acts, but it was a logical extension of what we saw in the first film. Bring on the next one!