When going into Shadow in the Cloud I was very willing to accept the silliness hoping I at least would have fun watching it. I for one can appreciate B movie badness. But it's like the film is hell bent on sending a message and nothing else.
Almost every character is flat and have no personality to them. Other than being sexist or racist. Those aren't traits. You don't even get to see who is saying what since most of the dialogue takes play through the intercom. Besides you never ever get the chance to know what they are really about. Why then even bother to introduce them. The only person who has something of a personality is the lead played by Chloë Grace Moretz. You are supposed to root for her. And I was up until the moment a plot element gets introduced. No, it's not the Gremlin. I was fine with that. Since it's the only thing that actually made it somewhat fun until they screwed that up as well. It's another plot element that is far more preposterous than the gremlin. Let that sink in a bit. A gremlin makes more sense than that plot element. Naturally I am not going to spoil it for you although I am very tempted to. In any case it's something that will make you dislike Chloë's character. Because it points out that most likely she is insane as suggested by the majority of the crew. And this is the kind of crazy that simply is not fun.
I wasn't expecting much. And I am probably one of the few who really doesn't care if the lead is male or female. What I do care about is fleshed out characters with personalities. Good action stars even when they have questionable traits make you like them no matter what. Unfortunately Chloë Grace Moretz however doesn't posses the skills or charisma to make you like her. She only managed to do that once in Kick-Ass and to be fair that wasn't because of her acting. She was this cute little girl who had a potty mouth. That's not that hard to pull off. Mind you, I am not saying that she acted badly. I think she did the best she could with what she was given. However that might be the problem. She is trying too hard to make herself relevant. This role demanded someone who embraced the silliness and who could exaggerate events even more. Someone like Rhona Mitra or Kate Beckinsale would have been able to add a comedic touch without taking away from the character they are portraying.
If like me you were hoping for fun and good action then think again. Shadow in the Cloud is all about the message and nothing else. Stay clear from this nonsense.
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