Cloverfield is the Godzilla of the You Tube generation. At least that’s what the creator of the show Lost, J.J. Abrams, had planned for this monster flick. Whether or not it will succeed in creating the iconic status it was intended for, it certainly proved itself to be worth the effort.
The movie itself starts out like a government record. Code naming the video, found in the area once called “Central Park”, Cloverfield was an excellent way to introduce the movie. Just following that, the videotape begins. Done in a home movie style, it begins very low-key as it introduces a love story between two of the main characters, Rob and Beth, that plays out through the rest of the movie. All of a sudden, we find a character named Jason recording over this tape. Jason, we find out very quickly, is Rob’s brother. He and his fiancé are creating a tape of Rob's going away party to take with him to his new job in Japan. We are then introduced to the film’s main narrator, Hud. Hud is given the camera by Jason and told to film everything. He takes this job with reluctance, but it gives him a chance to talk to the women at the party so he doesn’t mind too much. This finishes off the introduction of the main characters as Hud wanders around the party. It also re-introduces Beth and Rob’s love story several weeks after the events we saw earlier. This part of the film is slightly confusing and maybe even a little boring. The character of Hud keeps it just entertaining enough to sit through. Luckily, it doesn’t last too long as an earthquake shakes Manhattan and everyone rushes to see what happens. Then it’s the creature feature I paid to see from there on out.
The perspective is the biggest selling point of the entire movie. The entire movie is set out to emulate Godzilla, King Kong and other classic “destruction of the city” monsters. The real difference is in presentation. Every monster movie is pretty much the same. People living life, monster comes in, city falls down, monster roars, end of movie. The presentation really focuses on the individual struggle here. The camera work is spectacular, in so far that it’s supposed to be bad. In the very beginning, everything is close and intimate, denoting the relationship between the characters Beth and Rob. During the party, with Hud beginning his cameraman position it shows the bustle and inattentiveness (and partially drunkenness) of how the characters are living their everyday lives. Incidentally, that’s the hardest part to get through. The whole movie is not meant for those who have motion sickness, but this part was even difficult for me to sit and watch without getting queasy. Just after the incident we see in the trailers, with the Statue of Liberty’s face flying towards us, everything sobers up and becomes a lot more intense (and a bit steadier), trying to capture every little thing they could, because it means staying alive or dying right then and there.
The sound was one of my immediate likes about this film. Other than the party, there is no music. All the sounds we hear are what we would hear in reality. It’s hard to craft a song that is as tense as the sounds of a real disaster, after all. The credits have a very grandiose orchestral feel which is amusing, but throughout the movie, every sound gives you a faux-real feeling. It puts you into that tense situation, leaving out that little safety net that movies often supply by giving you a bit of the dramatic to hold on to. All that you have to keep you company here is the tense sounds and Hud’s narration.
The movie itself starts out like a government record. Code naming the video, found in the area once called “Central Park”, Cloverfield was an excellent way to introduce the movie. Just following that, the videotape begins. Done in a home movie style, it begins very low-key as it introduces a love story between two of the main characters, Rob and Beth, that plays out through the rest of the movie. All of a sudden, we find a character named Jason recording over this tape. Jason, we find out very quickly, is Rob’s brother. He and his fiancé are creating a tape of Rob's going away party to take with him to his new job in Japan. We are then introduced to the film’s main narrator, Hud. Hud is given the camera by Jason and told to film everything. He takes this job with reluctance, but it gives him a chance to talk to the women at the party so he doesn’t mind too much. This finishes off the introduction of the main characters as Hud wanders around the party. It also re-introduces Beth and Rob’s love story several weeks after the events we saw earlier. This part of the film is slightly confusing and maybe even a little boring. The character of Hud keeps it just entertaining enough to sit through. Luckily, it doesn’t last too long as an earthquake shakes Manhattan and everyone rushes to see what happens. Then it’s the creature feature I paid to see from there on out.
The perspective is the biggest selling point of the entire movie. The entire movie is set out to emulate Godzilla, King Kong and other classic “destruction of the city” monsters. The real difference is in presentation. Every monster movie is pretty much the same. People living life, monster comes in, city falls down, monster roars, end of movie. The presentation really focuses on the individual struggle here. The camera work is spectacular, in so far that it’s supposed to be bad. In the very beginning, everything is close and intimate, denoting the relationship between the characters Beth and Rob. During the party, with Hud beginning his cameraman position it shows the bustle and inattentiveness (and partially drunkenness) of how the characters are living their everyday lives. Incidentally, that’s the hardest part to get through. The whole movie is not meant for those who have motion sickness, but this part was even difficult for me to sit and watch without getting queasy. Just after the incident we see in the trailers, with the Statue of Liberty’s face flying towards us, everything sobers up and becomes a lot more intense (and a bit steadier), trying to capture every little thing they could, because it means staying alive or dying right then and there.
The sound was one of my immediate likes about this film. Other than the party, there is no music. All the sounds we hear are what we would hear in reality. It’s hard to craft a song that is as tense as the sounds of a real disaster, after all. The credits have a very grandiose orchestral feel which is amusing, but throughout the movie, every sound gives you a faux-real feeling. It puts you into that tense situation, leaving out that little safety net that movies often supply by giving you a bit of the dramatic to hold on to. All that you have to keep you company here is the tense sounds and Hud’s narration.
Cloverfield is a solid monster movie. The dialogue is witty, even if the plot is overdone. What really sold it is the execution. It was a risk to take this approach, but it really pulls together well to make something that’s two parts action, two parts horrific and one part funny. As far as replay, the little hidden bits in the movie, and snarky commentary make it worth watching more than once to catch things you didn’t get the first time. If you want something with depth, this might not be your kind of movie, but if you want realism and excitement, but a hefty helping of the bizarre, this is the movie to see. Cloverfield; The You Tube generation’s Godzilla? Maybe, but definitely a movie that gets its point across, even if there's a few buildings in the way.
Ian MacKechnie
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