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Cloverfield
Released: January 2008
Runtime: 85 minutes
Rated: PG-13 (violence, terror & disturbing images)
The comparisons between Cloverfield
and
The Blair Witch Projecthave been rampant, because of the viral
marketing campaign, both were "found” tapes chronicling some extraordinary
events and were shot using hand-held cameras in the first-person.
But that is where the similarities end as Cloverfield
is the superior film, due in no part to the vision of J.J. Abrams (the man that
gave us television's Lost) and surprisingly, Director Matt Reeves who
prior to this film spent his career directing, writing and producing television
episodes of Felicity.
Starting out as a farewell tape for Rob Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David), about to
leave for work in Japan (in a clever nod to the origins of the grand-daddy of
all giant monsters, Godzilla), the tape quickly becomes something
completely different as a creature begins to wreak havoc on Manhattan.
Once the monster strikes, the movie really begins and we follow Rob, his brother
Jason (Mike Vogel), Jason's girlfriend Lily (Jessica Lucas), Lily's friend
Marlena (Lizzy Caplan) and videographer Hud (T.J. Miller), as they move through
Manhattan Island in a desperate attempt to rescue Rob’s girlfriend Beth (Odette
Yustman) trapped on the 39th floor of her apartment building.
Unfortunately, given the very short running length of the movie, a whopping 85
minutes, it takes way too long for the mayhem to start and since we really don’t
get an opportunity to care very much for the characters the set-up is simply
lost (no pun intended) and as an audience member you feel cheated out of
precious minutes with the monster and devastation.
The comparisons to 9/11 are hard not to make especially with the destruction of
skyscrapers by the monster and in one particularly reminiscent scene, clouds of
dust and ash rush down through the street to the characters. The
decapitation of the Statue of Liberty and the destruction of the Brooklyn Bridge
provide the iconic imagery much like the real-world destruction of the World
Trade Center.
Michael Stahl-David, left,
and Odette Yustman in Cloverfield
The theatre in which we saw the movie had numerous warnings posted on everything
from the ticket booth to the theatre doors about the nature of the filming of Cloverfield.
As we entered the theatre we were more than bit apprehensive given these
prolific warnings. However, given the shortness of the film, the filming style
never really becomes a problem although the few moments when the camera is
actually stationery is a nice respite from the shakiness. Nausea-inducing it is
definitely not and one wonders if these warnings are being repeated across North
American theatres and driving movie-goers away from a very fun movie experience.
Given the dreadful Godzilla remake in 1998 it is great to see the
movie-monster genre return in all its true glory but then again, after the
release of Gwoemul /The Host in 2006 you knew it was only a matter of
time before Hollywood had to step-up to the plate with its own giant movie
monster. Fortunately for us, Cloverfield
serves up a tasty bit of movie mayhem that the South Korean’s could never match
... or at least until Gwoemul II/The Host II is released.
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