title : Top Movies - Cloverfield Movie Review - Movie Reviews Sites
Link : Top Movies - Cloverfield Movie Review - Movie Reviews Sites
Top Movies - Cloverfield Movie Review - Movie Reviews Sites
articleFilm Favourites,J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves delivered a fantastic catastrophe-flick, that saw the destruction of New York by an unspecified being.
Genre: Action/Horror/MysteryDirectors: Matt Reeves
Cast: Mike Stahl-David, T.J. Miller, Jessica Lucas, Odette Annable,
Lizzy Caplan, Mike Vogel, Billy Brown & Ben Feldman.
Lizzy Caplan, Mike Vogel, Billy Brown & Ben Feldman.
Run Time: 85 min.
US Release: 18 January 2008
UK Release: 31 January 2008
German Release: 01 February 2008
Cloverfield was my personal surprise hit of 2008 and my second favourite found footage film right after End of Watch, which combined the previous mentioned style with the monster movie genre. It was also responsible for reviving the found footage format, which slowly died out after the 1999 horror-shocker The Blair Witch Project. J.J. Abrams came up with the idea for Cloverfield while promoting Mission: Impossible III in Japan, thinking that the US film industry is in dire need of an own movie monster. Paramount Pictures green lit the project in secret and the trailer released for this action-mystery was one of the best marketing strategies I have seen for a movie, barely revealing anything about the film but still creating buzz.
---- BE AWARE, THIS IS A SPOILER REVIEW!! ----
Robert Hawkins (Stahl-David) is about to move to Japan and accept a position as vice-president of a company. His Brother Jason (Vogel) and “sister-in-law” Lilly (Lucas) plan a secret good-bye party for him and make Hud (Miller) film the whole thing, with Rob’s camera. We are then told by Robert himself that the tape in the camera contained precious memories of his first date with his long-term secret crush Beth (Annable), who left the party enraged. An earthquake and an explosion suddenly interrupt the party. The people run in panic out into the streets and it is revealed that a giant monster is attacking Manhattan. Rob calls Beth and shortly after decides to go and save her.
Monster films might not strike as being very innovative in Hollywood; there are several sequels and versions of King Kong and of course the American remake of Godzilla, but what Cloverfieldachieved by crossing the monster genre with the found footage category was genius! It not only revamped both genres but also gave this small budget production a complete new sensation. The home-video-type footage gave the audience the feeling to watch something extremely personal and also made the plot seem much more realistic.
This is a love story at its core that is wrapped in elements of action, mystery and horror. What surprised me was the effective scares it used in some of the scenes, which made it more frightening than other horror films nowadays. It is left unexplained where the Cloverfield monster came from and the scariest creature was not the giant Godzilla-like thing, but the little parasitic monsters that fell of its host. Having the main character about to move to Japan was a nice nod towards Godzilla and the severed head of the Statue of Liberty was inspired by the movie poster of the 1981 action-flick Escape from New York that had a very provocative and terrifying effect.
As any other film, this one wasn’t perfect but I only had a couple of issues with the story. For one, why do the others follow Rob to save Beth if they could have moved to safety? Then there is the issue of the camcorder battery that doesn’t seem to run out, and finally, although Hud gave a reason for documenting the destruction of Manhattan, there was no cause to film his friends being in danger, or suffering emotionally!
Here is where the movie drops the ball as all characters, except for the main protagonist, felt flat and not fleshed-out enough. Rob Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David) is the hero in this story, trying to save the life of his secret love Beth amidst the destruction of Manhattan by a 60-ish meter monster. Previously it was revealed that due to Rob accepting a job in Japan, him and Beth had fallout about a possible relationship.
Hudson ‘Hud’ Platt, played by T. J. Miller, was possibly the most bland and generally idiotic character of the group. The only reason for his creation was the fact that he was the best option to hold the camera and a disposable persona at that. What makes him even more unlikeable is the fact that he doesn’t stop filming, even when it concerns his friends’ safety.
Matt Reeves and Michael Bonvillain did a great cinematographic job. The found footage style in which this low-budget blockbuster was filmed gave the movie a personal and realistic touch, as if the audience were stuck in that horrific situation together with the protagonists. Reeves made the right decision by not showing the full monster until the end, the movie was like a build-up to the big horrific reveal, and while this might be a flaw in other movies it did work perfectly here. The special effects are still fantastic to look at the monsters and the destruction of Manhattan look incredibly realistic, which might have been enhanced by the shaky cam.
What did you think of Cloverfield? Were you one of the people experiencing motion sickness while watching? Leave a comment below and let me know. My review for 10 Cloverfield Lane, the unofficial sequel, will be uploaded this Saturday so keep your eyes open if interested. Thank you very much for reading and as always, if you found this review helpful share it!
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