Uma Sombra na Nuvem

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 ;-)

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.

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!

There are so many things wrong with this movie. I rolled my eyes many times. Some parts were so dumb that i had to pause the movie in order to process what happened. The entire premise is ridiculous, and so many things that happen are absurd. Whoever made this doesn't understand the most basic laws of physics. And they overdid it with the message

having said all that, i was never bored. In fact, i was invested. And there is one, let's call it, subplot. That subplot doesn't seem to fit in this movie at all. And yet it was the most stupidly entertaining aspect of the movie. (1 viewing, 6/7/2021)

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.