Shadow in the Cloud

Knowing nothing about it, I was mildly interesting at the introduction to the movie's premise and the competent hook, quality production and good camera-work! That is.. until it it all becomes a little too much, and ultimately crumbles into nonsense.

Seeing the name of "max landis" as one of the co-writers (alongside the female director) makes complete sense now, and should help deter anyone from even pressing Play. He's simply NOT a talented or competent screenwriter.. and the deliberate choice of elements that wrap around a poorly executed message are beyond his capability for composition. This is first and foremost a female-centric movie with a not-so-hidden agenda. Chloë Grace Moretz gives a decent performance, but the script is noticeable "handled", making it difficult to stay engaged with it.

The alternate World War context was a good setting, and being confined to a ball turret was intriguing! This is eventually abandoned, but remains the best piece of the pie.

Additionally, the film's blending of action and horror elements feels forced (like its core), and ultimately adds nothing to the overall narrative.. Specifically the cheap homage to a "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" Twilight Zone episode, with a fictional horror-monster plot that is laughably tacked-on! Specially when used as the climax of the story and as stand-in or outlet for all the lead's "venting".. I assume it probably makes sense to someone out there.

The rest of the cast is underutilized and their characters obnoxious or useless.

I'm beyond surprised this got the backing and support that it did.

Can't recommend it! Unless a fan of Chloe.. as it doesn't deliver on its potential.

Before watching this, I looked a bit into those really bad reviews here. So I decided to get the experience myself... And it was quite good. I did like those dialogues over intercom very much. Once in a uniform, some men think they are oblieged to talk...well, like idiots. There's similiar idiotic talk I heard myself during the time I served, decades ago. But the movie isn't about how idiotic men can be, but what a certain group of women can do, if they have to, at least about what we believe they can do. However, the movie continued to surprise me, the climbing scene was completeley captivating, I liked even becoming a bit dizzy...after that I thought 'Why do people hate this movie so much ? - It's just crazy !" (and not ludicruous, of course unrealistic, but nevertheless very effective). People seem to hate the movie because of the supernatural element. And I agree, mostly, that this was just a bad idea, which draws the movie "down" from its potential class, which would be "wartime drama" and is much more respectable than "fantasy action". However, technically there is not much to criticise, camera, cut, direction, music, fx, all decent, and of course, we can see that Chloe is able to singlehandedly carry a movie. So, I give 8 Stars. Wait, 8 ? That's a very good movie in my ranking system - how could that be ? Well, because I did like the freshness and the lighthearted verve of this little gem. And the little thing in the bag ;-)

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?

Bad script, so bad, I am not sure how it went to production with so much nonsense that makes no sense and just doesn't work. The acting was pretty nice by most actors and there were good moments, nice cgi. Script absolutely ruined the movie. Could've been a blockbuster if they just reworked it a bit( it is not that hard, I can clearly see about 10 possibilities without even thinking about it)

4.6/10

I read the synopsis before I realized Grace morritze is in it and I thought the premise sounded dreadful. After watching the trailer I thought I didn't have anything to lose by watching it. Turns out i lost brain cells, as it's laughably bad, so much so I had to watch it to the end, as I was incredulous and curious about wether it would improve, but it just got more odd.

I think it's meant to be 80's B movie bad, hence the heavy synth music and poor effects. I really hope that's the case as it just got weirder by the minute. Everything was poor; the script, the heavy handed misogyny, the acting (at one point Chloe reprimanded her colleagues for their remarks and she sounds like a teacher telling kids off, rather than an authoritive soldier), the effects (apart from the dog fights, they were cool), the storyline was terrible, just awful.

I really hope I missed something and this was supposed to be a homage to old camp ott 80's horror, because if not I'm concerned about everyone's career in this. I'm sure there was a message about the indomitable spirit of womanhood, "girls can do stuff now" and the lengths we will go to protect our own, despite the blatant sexism and misogyny we experience and the odds being stacked against us, but if so it was jammed right in our faces and we were bludgeoned with it.

It could also be viewed as a comedy as there are so many "oh, come on!" moments, my eyes rolled so hard they nearly popped out of my head. If you watch this do not take it seriously,, and you might just make it.