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Film Review: "Cloverfield"

by Jeanne on January 19th, 2008

"Cloverfield" is this year’s first "big movie" but I’ll admit to not being immediately interested.  Maybe I was still feeling lazy from the holidays but I just wasn’t very motivated.  Still, all the buzz intrigued me and I started paying more attention to the trailers and, finally, built up enough excitement to go to the first showing today.  I’m glad I went.

After a message informs the audience that they are about to see "real" footage retrieved from someone’s camcorder, the movie opens ordinarily enough (except for the fact that it’s obviously filmed from the first-person perspective) - we’re introduced to a Rob and Beth who, it appears, are in love and happy.

More after the jump (may contain spoilers)!

A few minutes later, we (I can’t help but say "we" since, from this camera perspective, it really does feel like you’re part of it) are at Rob’s farewell party (he’s moving to Japan the next day).  The footage is meant to be a collection of well-wishes from guests, mostly taped by Rob’s best friend, Hud.  We also meet the rest of the main characters here - Jason (Rob’s brother), Lily (Jason’s girlfriend) and Marlena (Hud’s secret crush).  After several exchanges reveal the nature of Rob and Beth’s relationship (which also explains the footage at the beginning of the film), Beth leaves the party and Rob heads out to the fire escape to talk things over with Jason and Hud.  While they are out there, a huge jolt hits Manhattan and, after they run to the roof to investigate, things progress quickly.

From this point forward, the movie pulls no punches - the effects are very believable, the acting is decent (Lily, played by Jessica Lucas is slightly less convincing) and the camera work is great.  It’s frenzied, high-paced and unsettlingly realistic, for the most part.  Naturally, the Beth/Rob storyline becomes central after Rob receives a horrifying phone call from Beth and learns that she is injured and trapped in her apartment.  The rest of the movie revolves around his quest to get to Beth and save her life as an unknown creature wreaks havoc on their city.

I won’t give away all the details but I have to mention the monster.  Initially, from the few glimpses we see as it races behind buildings, he looks like your garden variety Godzilla-type creature but there are some noticeable differences.  I almost pointed to its’ "little helpers" as an example until I remembered that Godzilla had babies so I will refrain from elaborating any further.

This movie has so many elements from (you knew this was coming) "The Blair Witch Project" (1999).  Obviously, there is the POV camera work but there’s more than that - it’s also the chemistry and exchange between the main characters.  The film also can’t seem to get away from having at least one scene in which a tearful, runny-nosed person turns the camera on themselves to leave an ominous message for whomever finds the footage which immediately reminded me of possibly the most famous scene from BWP.

Clearly, the film is also reminiscent of "Godzilla" (1998), (even though no one ever mentions it?!?!) with its’ use of a giant reptilian looking monster destroying a major city but it also reminded me of 2005’s "War of the Worlds" (particularly the dusty evacuation and bridge scenes).

I was expecting much of what I’ve just described but what I didn’t foresee was how much this movie would remind me of the tragic events that unfolded on September 11, 2001.  When that initial giant dust cloud settled it sparked a reaction but it didn’t really hit me until that building collapsed.  I had all but forgotten but then there was another big glaring example when Rob makes it to Beth’s apartment building and it is leaning on the next, identical building.  It completely reminded me of the twin towers and, to tell the truth, I’m not sure how I felt about that.

This movie would have been perfect if the monster remained more of a mystery (it just didn’t look as scary once I saw it out in the open) and if they had avoided some of the scenes that will undoubtedly make movie-goers think of "Blair Witch."

Read some more reviews here:

• Variety
• New York Times
• Rotten Tomatoes

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POSTED IN: Action/Adventure, Film Reviews, Horror, Mockumentary