J.
J. Abrams and his team have cobbled together some well worn
themes with Cloverfield; but come up with an OK movie.
It will keep you on the edge of the seat as the action seldom
takes pauses, and there are some spectacular moments despite
more nagging holes in the script than a slab of Gruyere cheese.
Just be thankful it's on DVD and not an IMAX screen or you’d
need the little brown bag once so dear to airlines; but even
so motion sickness remains a possibility. Following in the shaky
footsteps of The Blair Witch Project, this whole movie
is supposedly shot on a hand held video camera by the worst
amateur in the world. Of course not true, home videos are never
like this with deafening surround sound and studio editing of
different takes of the party dialogue. Never mind – you
won’t notice as you grab another handful of popcorn.
The plot is basic and predictable. Friends of Rob (Michael
Stahl-David) are hosting his farewell party in New York City.
Recording the event is Hud (T. J. Miller) his pal with a video
camera who hasn’t the faintest idea of how to use the
thing. In the midst of the festivities there is a thunderous
explosion as a skyscraper sized horror/creature decides to devour
Manhattan for reasons not explained. Possibly because it’s
a distant offspring of Godzilla with it’s destructive
nature. The friends run down to the street as the head of the
statue of Liberty lands at their feet. Not encouraging; particularly
as buildings are being demolished right and left. Ron decides
to rescue girl friend Beth (Odette Yustman) who lives on the
49th floor of an apartment block now in the path of the marauding
monster. So an unwise perilous journey begins to make the rescue
as the creature mangles the city and its people.
For all the problems with hand held camera the story bats along
at a neat pace - once we get through the opening mindless party
scene which sets up a suspenseful ten minutes or so before the
big bang. The first appearance of the monster is very effective
indeed, hand held or otherwise. For the early part of the movie
we only see glimpses of the creature, which makes it more frightening
than a fully visible and obviously CG Godzilla from Hell. The
little fast moving spider critters are even more scary.
Some
effective touches are the riderless carriage in Central Park,
the shop looting, and the fleeing rats in the underground tunnel.
A more disturbing image shows a collapsing skyscraper echoing
9/11.The actual panic of the fleeing crowds is created with
the real feeling of what it’s like under attack. Less
credible is the romantic spin in the middle of the mayhem.
Cloverfield is produced by J.J. Abrams, the man behind
the unusual TV series Lost, who is now making his presence
felt on the big screen. I’m not sure how dyed in the wool
sci-fi fans will take to this, as there are some technical problems
left unexplained including the origin of the big beastie (and
don’t you dare say Japan). It’s surely derivative,
but in its favour the direction by Matt Reeves is crisp, and
the running time a commendable 85 minutes - and it’s a
thrill ride for most of that.
Let’s be not too hard on the sci-fi technical matters
or the perfunctory script and acting - in the wash-up it’s
the excellent special effects that make the flick work. Aimed
an audience the age of the characters in the film, and while
certainly not sci-fi in the 2001: A Space Odyssey class,
Cloverfield is entertaining and does well reviving
those days of wonder when an earlier plasticine Godzilla knocked
a bits off the miniature set. There is much unanswered and the
ending leaves you in grave doubt for our future - or more likely
the appearance of a shaky sequel.
