Cloverfield

Wishing Rob (Michael Stahl-David) a fond farewell several friends say goodbye via a video camera. Suddenly an explosion goes off and their whole New York City apartment shakes. Running up to the roof with the camera, the party goers see an explosion and that there is something big moving in the city. Before they know it the Statue of Liberty’s head comes rolling down the street.

The whole film is played out via the footage from that same video camera. This “found footage” is dubbed “Cloverfield”. So we, the audience, sit and watch as these people fight for survival while New York City is being demolished by a giant creature.

Yes, it is all shot using a hand held camera. If this perspective isn’t for you or if the ‘Blair Witch Project’ made you ill, then this film is not for you. With reality TV preparing most of Americans for shaking camera work and shows like “The Office” and “Battlestar Galactica” using a similar technique, most people should be able to stomach at least one sitting (to say nothing of people who play 3rd person shooter video games, this whole movie is in 3rd person).

‘Cloverfield’ opens with video footage of young lovers Rob and Beth (Odette Yustman) having just spent the night together. It will cut in out of this footage at times because the events that transpire in the film are tapped over their romantic day (pay attention to all of it, it is important). After an introduction to the characters and their various relationships, problems and some great humor… BOOM. The movie begins. Immediately when the city is in peril you have to wonder about the mentality of New Yorkers who go up to the roof to watch an explosion or take cell phone pics of a severed Statue of Liberty head. They (New Yorkers) have seen their city fall before. One would think that would clear out like cockroaches when the lights come on. Now I know the reality of it (as if it was real and this was me) but since this is a movie and if they take off we’d have no movie I surrendered myself to the film.

There is a great reality to the film (despite the creature walking around). Family and friends sticking together is played out beautifully. They face the problem of knowing what is the smart thing to do and what is the right thing to do. So when Rob receives that call for help, after he is so close to safety, we know that it isn’t the smart thing to do (go back into the city) it’s the right thing to do. Rob’s dilemma as well as his friends becomes our own. The small story of rescuing a friend is played out instead of the President or a General (who’s estranged wife just happens to be in New York) working out how to save his city. Again the film’s strengths come from its realism.

The film is one gigantic roller coaster ride. If the sound is up and the audience is in to it then the movie feels as if you are sitting in one long ride at a theme park (Star Tours, Back to the Future the Ride, etc.). The hand held camera actually made the experience real. Completely captivating my attention giving me a full rush of emotions that at times got the better of me. My survival instincts started to take over and I generally felt something for these people. It’s been a while since I felt so invested in a film and its characters. The overall experience was just exhilarating.

The young “unknown” actors in the film also bring a sense realism to the movie. If it were Brad Pitt as Rob it would have been Pitt on the poster holding some girl looking up in terror. The poster for this film sums it up with its iconic symbol destroyed forcing us to wonder what did that? What is the story behind it? Not will Pitt save the day? Instead it’s “Can I survive the movie”?

Kudos goes to J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot Company for delivering a summer blockbuster three weeks into the New Year. I half expected it to be a balmy summer night when I walked out of the theater. The film invokes the best of science fiction and horror. While nodding to Toho Godzilla movies, ‘Cloverfield’ is a rocking time and one I want to sit through again. It is popcorn movie, yet one that will lose everything in the confines of your home while you watch it on your TV. You have to see ‘Cloverfield’ in the theater.


Read the staff review by Mania: CLOVERFIELD.