Mania Grade: B+
Maniac Grade: B-
53 Comments | Add
Rate & Share:
Related Links:
Info:
- Reviewed Format: Theatrical Release
- Rated: PG-13
- Stars: Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman
- Writer: Drew Goddard
- Director: Matt Reeves
- Distributor: Paramount Pictures
CLOVERFIELD
A Godzilla by any other name would stomp just as hard... By Abbie Bernstein
January 19, 2008
Michael Stahl-David and Odette Yustman in CLOVERFIELD (2008).
© Paramount Pictures
To answer some basic questions about Cloverfield up front: a) yes, it’s pretty much Godzilla in everything but name; b) yes, we see the monster; c) yes, it’s a great monster and d) yes, this is a pretty fine movie about a giant creature rampaging through New York.
Cloverfield utilizes the format made famous by The Blair Witch Project (though actually done before elsewhere in such films as 24 Charlie MoPic) of appearing to be comprised entirely of “found” video footage. We see at the outset that what we’re watching is now property of the Department of Defense and was picked up at the site “formerly known as Central Park.” Uh-oh, New York is gonna get it, and sure enough, it does. There’s a quiet set-up period as we meet our main characters, gathered at a going-away party for Rob (Michael Stahl-David), who loves Beth (Odette Yustman), but has managed to push her away in his diffence; Rob’s somewhat dense pal Hud (T.J. Miller), who’s been hustled into documenting the party with Rob’s video camera, but starts to take this “capturing of events” business seriously; Rob’s brother Jason (Mike Vogel) and Jason’s loyal girlfriend Lily (Jessica Lucas) and the deadpan-sarcastic Marlena (Lizzy Caplan), who’s not quite sure what she’s doing at this shindig.
Then there’s a huge thud, a blackout, the lights come back on, people run up to the roof to see what’s happening and part of Lower Manhattan is ablaze. Pretty soon, everybody’s running for their lives, trying to get the hell out of the city while who knows what lays waste to it.
Drew Goddard’s intelligent screenplay puts us at ground zero in the civilian point of view of a sustained giant monster attack on a major metropolis, which means that, like the characters, we’re never sure where this thing came from or what it’s doing here (though several hypotheses are offered). As a bonus, we get a few subsidiary monsters, with even a hint of another famous creature franchise, though absolute proof of this similarity goes uncaptured by Hud’s camera. The dialogue is sharp, occasionally deliberately funny and entirely free of deliberate howlers (something of a miracle in this specific subgenre). There’s also a nice little inversion of a typical horror movie cliché (to even indicate which one would give it away), though only those watching for it may notice.
Director Matt Reeves does a great job with verisimilitude, making us feel like we’re running along with the characters, and modulating the camera moves so that while there are some wild swings and tumbles (in keeping with what’s happening to the camera and the person holding it), we can see what we need to see without getting Blair-style motion sickness.
The cast is all very convincing, with Stahl-David (who bears a resemblance to a young Noah Wyle) handling trauma and determination very convincingly and Caplan witty yet sympathetic as the sardonic Marlena.
So why a B+ instead of an A (yes, I read the discussions of the grades on the Mania boards occasionally), especially since this is probably the best movie made thus far within these parameters? Well, Cloverfield is most definitely a horror movie – it’s got creatures, gore, destruction and terrified characters with little or no control over their situation – but while we’re absolutely engaged, we’re not terrified as audience members, and that seems to have been part of the intent. Also, without wishing to give away the climax, there are some plot and tonal shifts that make sense intellectually but don’t entirely add up viscerally – there’s an attempt at a certain emotional effect that didn’t (at least for this reviewer) wholly succeed at the end. In short, Cloverfield is pretty terrific, but there are a few things that don’t quite resonate as they should. In fairness to the film, though, these are minor compared with the overall achievement of the stompingly good monster film that has been made.
LOGIN
REGISTER
RSS
HOME
