Film Review: Cloverfield (2008)

Review:
Cloverfield is a film which pays homage to all those cheesy 1950s post atomic sci-fi B-films in which a giant something is hell bent on destroying everything in sight. Typically, it is small towns in remote locations except here New York City is the target playground of this little aggressive beastie booger.

As with previous monster-come-hither films, the creature is not the primary focus. Principal concerns revolve around a small group of people whose lives are brought into peril because of the monster. The story starts modestly enough. There is a going away party for Rob (Michael Stahl-David) who has landed a job in Japan and will be gone for at least two years. During the bon voyage party, Hud (T.J. Miller) is videotaping testimonials, good luck wishes and goodbyes so Rob would not feel too homesick while overseas. Of course before the party is over, something dreadful happens and everyone hears a loud explosion which shakes the building. It is in these scenes that the table set for what happens going forward. Tensions were running high even before the big bang.

After they heard the ruckus (sorry, cannot describe the ruckus), everyone heads to the rooftop to get a better look at what just happened. With camcorder in tow, our party-goers see a large fireball off in the distance. New York City serves as an excellent backdrop with its expansive skyline. Now it is time to panic and everyone rushes down the stairs and pour out into the streets. Enter the military and chaos ensues. Something is attacking the city, what could it be everyone thinks. From here we begin to see glimpses of the beast. The cinematography is fairly well done. They really captured the events of the night. And with my disbelief fully suspended, I could actually imagine this IS what it might look like if this were truly happening.

With the world crumbling around them, our little group of survivors is making their way back to rescue Rob's pseudo girlfriend. In hindsight, this is an unwise decision as it will cost them dearly in the end. The scenes throughout are very realistic despite using the commando home movie technique a la The Blair Witch Project. The acting is not all that bad. It is too bad the group is slowly being reduced as one gets knocked off here and there as they make their way through town. And what the heck were those little voracious bugs that kept attacking the group. They looked like steroid infused arachnids wanting to kill all humans with wonting brutality. Or maybe they were just hungry. Who knows for sure?

In my opinion, Cloverfield was great for what it was intended to be. Although a bit predictable at times, the ride was well worth the price of admission. Unlike other monster movies, this was filmed from a first person perspective (see Blair Witch comment). Rather than simply observing from afar, the film pulled me into the story. I actually felt a bit of remorse for the character's plight. The monster was lame, but served its purpose as were the little buggies. But again, they were not the focus. One negative issue I had dealt with the character interactions. I understand they were stressed, but they would keep repeating themselves...repeating themselves...repeating themselves. It was annoying. Get my point? If you have not seen Cloverfield yet, I would recommend you go see it on the big screen. The small screen may not do this one justice. After the film ending and the credits began to roll, there was an actual smattering of applause. I heard that there is a payoff at the end. I could not make it that far. Sorry folks, I got the medium silo of soda instead of the barrel of cola and really had to empty.

Mike's Rating: 7 out of 10 (Disgruntled monster types)
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for violence, terror, and disturbing images
Running Time: 84 minutes