Movie Review: Cloverfield

Starring:
Michael Stahl-David, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, Lizzy Caplan, Odette Yustman, Mike Vogel

Director:
Matt Reeves (The Pallbearer)

MPAA Rating:
PG-13 for violence, terror and disturbing images.

Release Date:
January 2008

Synopsis:
A going-away party in Manhattan is interrupted when a mysterious, giant monster launches an attack on New York City. With camcorder in hand, a small group of friends make their way out into the chaotic streets, scrambling to stay alive.

My Two Cents:
Monster movies have come a long way since the original Godzilla movies in the 1950’s. The most recent one, Cloverfield, is actually less of a monster movie and more like a love story, with a giant monster standing between two lovebirds. If you gave in to the massive hype created by Paramount’s viral internet marketing then you already saw this movie on its opening day. If you didn’t, then keep on reading. I’ll try not to give too many spoilers.

What sets this movie apart from other monster movies is that you have absolutely no idea what the monster is, or where it came from, or why it wants to destroy Ney York. Some kids are having a party when suddenly the city is attacked and all hell breaks lose. The entire film is filmed by a guy called Hud through a handheld video camera. Yes, 100% of the movie is from a first-person perspective. It’s interesting because you actually feel like you’re there, running for your life, but it can make you dizzy, like, in the first 3 minutes. Some theaters even posted motion sickness warnings so people knew what they were getting into. After a while you kind of get used to it and get too involved in the action to care.



The movie only lasts 1:13 and the first 18 minutes are spent presenting the characters. It’s a bit boring, but necessary or else you wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about them when the carnage begins. After the Statue of Liberty’s decapitated head falls right in front on Rob’s (Michael Stahl-David) apartment, he and four other people set out to look for Beth (Odette Yustman), Rob’s best friend and romantic interest. The events Rob and crew have to go through in an attempt to save her shows how strong their love is. The monster’s presence and threat is always there, but I really felt like the love story was just as strong. I guess I’m a hopeless romantic.

So… what’s the monster like? This whole paragraph is about the creature, so skip to the next one if you want it to be a surprise. Right, so the monster’s origin is a secret, because the movie tells you nothing about it. It’s just here and now, destroying everything for no apparent reason. Since the whole movie is seen through Hud’s video camera and he doesn’t know what the hell is going on there’s no way for us to know what’s happening. I can understand that, but still, it sucks not knowing what the hell it’s going on. The viral marketing gave some hints, and there are some theories floating around, but I’ll get to that later. OK, the monster. It’s a bit of a disappointment. After so much hype I was expecting to have my mind blown away, but I just wasn’t impressed. It looks like a big iguana, with useless tiny T-Rex-like arms in its chest. It also has breathing sacks on its face that look like testes. I’m not kidding. There’s nothing scarier than a pissed off giant iguana with testicles in its head if you think about it. The creature, or Clovey as everyone’s calling it, doesn’t have fire breath or shoots lasers from its tiny eyes, no, it only slashes and stomps. It does, however, spawn little versions of itself about the size of a crocodile. Those things are vicious little boogers. So even if Clovey is a bit shitty in design he’s still scary and very dangerous.



Um… you might also want to skip this paragraph. I promise the next one is spoiler-free. OK, so where the hell did Clovey come from? During a scene that happened roughly a month before the attack on NY you can see an object fall from the sky right into the ocean. Is it a meteor? A spaceship? No, it’s a satellite. So what does the satellite have to do with Clovey? Well, producer J.J. Abrams said the creature had been sleeping deep in the ocean for thousands of years and now its awake and super pissed. There seems to be a connection between the satellite and Clovey waking up, but I’m not sure what it is yet. Now, here’s another interesting theory. The going-away party was because Rob got a job at Tagruato, a Japanese drilling company. They drill the Atlantic seabed to extract a nectar used as an ingredient for a drink called Slusho. One of Tagruato’s oiling facilities was destroyed by an unknown sea creature, and then a tanker full of Slusho that was heading to NY was also destroyed by the creature. Clovey clearly doesn’t like Slusho. Some believe Slusho’s secret ingredient is actually blood, or some other liquid from Clovey’s body. Having huge drills milking you while you’re taking an undersea nap would piss you off too. No one knows Clovey’s origins for sure, but perhaps a sequel/prequel will help clarify things.

Cloverfield was made with a $25 million budget. That’s very low budget for a film these days, but it’s a big success at the box office so it certainly payed off. The effects are not fantastic, but because of the shaky camera they don’t need to be spectacular to be effective, so you won’t mind at all. There’s not a lot of room to act, so forget any Oscar nominations here. The best lines were given to Hud, my favorite character and comic relief. Slow through the first 18 minutes, exhilarating through the other 55 minutes, and nausea-inducing throughout. Try to avoid watching the film alone or with people who already saw it. Trust me, the experience will be about 50% less fun. Be sure to watch until the credits stop for a hint at a possible sequel.

Score: