Cloverfield - Non-Spoiler Movie Review

Cloverfield - Non-Spoiler Movie Review

Written by Michael Dayspring

Wednesday, 16 January 2008

So was it A Cloverfield of Dreams? Or Did it rock Mikeys socks off? Get the non-spoiler scoop. I literally just walked in the door at the House of M after a scary drive home in high force winds...which is fitting since I just had my mind blown by just how well Matt Reeves, Drew Goddard, and J.J. Abrams re-invented the giant monster movie. Let me side track this for just a moment if I may; I LOVE Godzilla films, I love King Kong, Ultraman, all of IT! Why? Because I'm a man-child who’s "Bucket-List" has on it "Trash Model City while wearing a Monster suit" and I know I'm not alone in that one bit. However one of the most frustrating things about giant monster movies is the lame attempts to "humanize" the story. Nobody takes these things very seriously and you wind up with some cool city smashing action sandwiched in-between what feels like hours of god awful dialog from people you couldn't care about on your most charitable day. With all that in mind the forces behind Cloverfield took a different approach to telling the story of what happens when a giant monster decides to smash a large city to rumble; the point of view of those poor people on the ground during this nightmare. And by god it works on levels you won't even realize as you are watching it, it will hit you later like a ton of bricks. The people in this movie don't play this like a scripted drama, so much so I have to wonder how much of it was ever planned out or scripted. Which brings me to my next side tracked moment: Jessica Lucas is STUNNING!! so stunning in fact I'm not only saving her a spot on this years hottie list, but I'm even considering watching The Covenant (on purpose) just to see more of her....if that doesn't qualify as smitten I don't know what does. Ok back to Cloverfield. While I did promise I wouldn't spoil it for you (and I wont) I will tell you this, I know some people are thinking that you won’t see much of this beast in the movie...NOT true! You see quite a bit of it but they will tease you with it for a good while before giving up the goods. It’s a great build up and the trailers don't show you ANYTHING about what you will see...and hear. Check Out The Full Review Over At Film Geekz.

Review: Cloverfield (spoiler warning)

By CHRIS SCHULZ - Stuff.co.nz | Thursday, 17 January 2008

Don’t believe the hype. Forget about the endless internet campaign, and flag away the confusing puzzles, photographs, videos and bizarre advertising for a milkshake called Slusho.
Blog: Open letter to JJ Abrams

None of it means a thing once you've seen Cloverfield – a classic monster movie that manages to skilfully sidestep the extraordinary amount of hype engineered by producer JJ Abrams and director Matt Reeves.

It does everything a good monster movie should. It’ll thrill, it’ll shock, and it’ll quite likely scare the bejeezus out of you. Depending on your tolerance of handycams, it may very well make you sick.

But it’s the use of a shaky handycam – reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project – that makes Cloverfield work. It unsettles, gets viewers closer to the action, and gives the film a ‘did-you-just-see-that?’ edge lacking from more polished movies.

As the trailer suggests, Cloverfield follows the antics of a group of party-goers bidding farewell to a friend called Rob. A tense love triangle emerges just before all hell breaks loose.

Hell is the only way to describe it. In scenes eerily reminiscent of the 9/11 terror attacks, alarms ring, the ground shakes, buildings tumble, dust clouds form and people abandon their cars and run for their lives.

There’s also the small matter of the Statue of Liberty being beheaded.

Eager fans will be pleased that they actually get to see the monster that’s terrorising New York – although they might have wished otherwise afterwards. It’s an almost indescribable stumpy behemoth, and he’s invited a few smaller friends along for his trail of terror.

But the monster isn’t the only surprise in Cloverfield. A love story, told using flashbacks as the handycam tape skips between a previous recording and current events, proves to be both touching and believable.

There are plenty of classic Abrams trademarks on show: Mostly unknown actors are used; the film is packed full of pop culture nods referencing everything from Alien to Paris Hilton’s sex tape, and key characters are killed on a whim.

Unfortunately, the film ends with plenty of questions left unanswered. As fans of Lost will know, this is another Abrams trademark that gets annoying over the course of three head-scratching seasons.

But when a film is this arm-chair grippingly good, it’s an easily forgiveable blip. Just sit down, buckle up, enjoy the ride – and pray that the monster never visits New Zealand.

Cloverfield
Director: Matt Reeves
Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas
Rating: M
Time: 84 minutes
Trailer: Flicks.co.nz