Review: Cloverfield

Director Matt Reeves’ film, Cloverfield aims to look at the monster movie genre from a different angle: the first-person perspective. The movie is shot entirely with a hand-held camera that was intended to be used to film the going away party of one of the main characters, Rob (Michael Stahl-David). The cameraman, Hud (T.J. Miller) becomes the unwitting documentarian of what turns out to be a horrific night in New York City, and assists Rob and several of his party guests in a search for a lost lover in the rubble of the creature’s attack on the city.

Cloverfield brings to mind multiple similarities to 1999’s Blair Witch Project. Like Blair Witch, Cloverfield follows the exploits of several twenty-somethings in shaky, herky-jerky camera fashion as they come to terms with an unknown danger. This time, however, instead of running around lost in a forest, the protagonists are running around the streets of what looks to be a post 9/11 New York City. Characters are lost along the way in typical horror movie fashion, but Reeves does succeed in breathing some new life into the genre.

The movie sets up a typical blossoming love story at its start, cleverly inter-cut into the first twenty or so minutes of the film by purposefully awkward camera restarts by the camera operator. This editing technique brought a level of humor and realism to the film, and offered a unique look into the past of the two lovebirds in question.

The party sequence feels a little forced, drawing upon typical mid-twenties angst, booze laden “man-up” discussions, and awkward on-camera flirting with a lot of dialogue that felt out of place. Most of the first part of the film was a clear ploy for us to warm up to the characters, but they weren’t likable enough to really care about.

Where the film does deliver, however, is the seamless CGI action on and under the streets of New York. One has to accept the fact that the animators had to have referenced lots of footage of the 9/11 attacks, and like it or not, disaster movies such as this now will be held up visually to the disaster that affected this country nearly seven years ago. There was some discomfort in seeing buildings topple in the same manner as they did that fateful day in September, and if that was the reaction Reeves was looking for, he succeeded in that. It brings to mind, however, the following question; why is New York always the scene for disaster films like this? The answer must be that NYC is the heart of the country, and to see it destroyed brings out fear in all of us.

Reeves teases us with little glimpses of the creature early on in the attack, slowly revealing more and more as the film progresses. It is amazing how well the animation syncs up with the fast paced camera movements, and is able to maintain perspective and believability in the quick pans of the camera.

The movie attempts some big sudden scares, but unfortunately misses the mark. One would hope that the uniqueness of the style of filming would overcome the typical, predictable horror movie techniques. Even so, dislikable characters aside, the movie was thrilling to watch, if not the adrenaline rush the trailer made it out to be. As a CGI driven blockbuster, it is most certainly meant to be seen on the big screen, and Showplace Cinemas’ DLP digital projectors bring the movie to life that can’t be achieved on the small screen.

For the fanboys out there that are jonesing for the big monster movie soundtrack; wait until the credits actually start to roll. Though the film does not have a soundtrack per-se, the end credit sequence leaves you with what all good monster movies need: thundering bass drums and Valhalla spewing operatic themes. Whether you like the film or not, the music will leave you walking out of the theater with a smile.