Shadow In The Cloud is our first official movie of 2021! This movie came out on January 1st on VOD only to have premiered a couple months prior at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in September. The movie is about a WWII pilot who has been tasked to secure and deliver a top secret package via a B-17 war plane. During the flight she has to defend herself against something very strange and unnatural that is hidden in the shadows outside of the plane. The pilot is played by none other than the beloved actress Chloe Grace Moretz. Honestly she is the main reason why you would want to watch this movie. This movie tackles several genres within it's runtime of 1 hour and 23 minutes. A rather short movie, but is packed with many scenes but also many tones. Sadly these themes and tones are not executed well. Unfortunately this movie was a miss for me for several reasons. Although it was not a movie for me, it could be one for you. There are also some positive elements in this movie and you can indeed get some enjoyment from this film.
Let's talk about the positives of this movie. There are a lot of awesome and badass moments. Chloe, who plays Maude in the movie, made this action film so much fun to watch. It is her range and charisma that steals the show in Shadow in the Cloud. She is able to make me care for her character and her mission. Her emotions really shine through in this movie and it makes me excited to see what other roles she chooses to be in. This role shows that she is very capable of leading in action movie parts, for she can indeed deliver the action that is needed. This of course was first shown in the movie KICK ASS which she played Hit-Girl! Chloe absolutely is the star and she had some great moments that showed how bad ass she is. We get treated to an awesome showdown towards the end of the movie but bad sadly it was to short to feel gratifying. The movie also contained great moments of tension. Most of these scenes happen when she is trapped in the gun turret of the plane. There were a good uses of lighting and sets up an awesome tone that was accompanied by a good score. I personally like movies that hold a specific purpose of why it was made. Shadow in The Cloud had a great story within it's story. There are some great social commentary in this movie that can teach the viewer a very valuable lesson, which is awesome. Sadly because the movie has so many different genres in it, the movie doesn't blend all of them perfectly together.
Now let us talk about the negatives about this movie. The movie perfectly sets up the main character with a rich background and back story. No one else in this movie have anything like that. When shit hits the fan, I didn't really feel invested enough in the other characters to care about their safety. With how the story is written in the script, we can tell that the filmmakers behind this movie didn't want the viewers to like these other characters. The message was loud and clear, but that also just hurt the movie. It is always good to have an important message in a movie, but it also can distract from the main plot of the movie. Another thing that hurt about this movie was the story telling in general. There are a lot of moments that are honestly just ridiculous to say the least. Don't get me wrong, I love movies that are a little cheesy and over the top, but I think it happened way too often in this movie. So much that it takes you out of the experience and left me never feeling full immersed.
Overall I don't think this movie was a bad watch for there are so many things in this movie that was actually enjoyable. Sadly this is not a movie I would recommend watching for its current rental price. If this movie was available on a streaming service on the other hand, this might be a fun popcorn movie that many people would like to watch. It is currently sitting at 76% on Rotten Tomatoes and sitting at a 31% Audience Score. My opinion fits right in-between those numbers. The people who will like this movie will be fans of cheesy popcorn action. The movie is generally put together with too much going on. It would have been a better movie if they stuck with just one theme or obstacle. Chloe's performance and the score of the movie really elevated my experience personally. If any of you see this movie, please let me know your thoughts!
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