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Is
it a bird? Is it a plane? No...
It's a giant thingamajig!!!
I suppose the biggest compliment that I can
bestow on "Cloverfield" is that it is as
good as a film like this could possibly be.
It is a monster movie... plain and simple.
No explanation. No excuses. No subtext. It
exists only to thrill -- and it accomplishes
that modest goal with sublime ease.
Essentially, "Cloverfield" is a recovered
75-minute video made by a group of
Abercrombie & Fitch models who, while
attending a farewell party in New York City,
capture the footage of a devastating attack
by a massive Godzilla-like creature. The
panic, the chase, the devastation -- all
recorded as a small group of these sexy
Manhattan-ites dash through the city looking
for one of their friends.
Rob, Marlena, Lily and Hud form our heroic
quartet as they search for Beth -- the love
of Rob's life who is hurt and immobile at
her apartment. The nature of the premise
relies on the hand-held video technique that
has become so simultaneously popular and
loathed in recent years. The painfully
obvious comparison combination is "The Blair
Witch Project" meets "Godzilla".
The same thing that works for this film is
also its most major flaw. I really
appreciate the fact that "Cloverfield"
doesn't strive to be anything more than a
scary roller coaster ride. It is a visceral
and authentic depiction of the chaos that
would ensue if something this absurd were to
actually happen. For such a ludicrous
premise, it still manages to maintain a
semblance of reality.
Consider a failed 2007 film with similar
motivations -- "The Mist". Again, a monster
movie that generated some thrills.
Unfortunately, it tried a little too hard to
have emotional impact and a meaningful
message. That miserable film dwindled into a
ludicrous exercise in melodrama. Intense
emotions are hard to blend with silly
monsters -- it feels false.
"Cloverfield" does not presume to become
anything more. It is what it is... no
layers. While that results in a streamlined
and exciting blockbuster, it also, by
definition, is rather hollow.
Perhaps it appears unfair to criticize a
film for the same thing that makes it
work... But that is the nature of monster
movies. They have a hard time aspiring to
anything more than surface entertainment.
When they do try, they typically fail. When
they don't try, they lack ambition and
depth.
Nevertheless, "Cloverfield" gets my solid
recommendation as one of the very best
movies in its genre. It reminds me a little
of "The Host", a great Korean fright-flick
that garnered worldwide attention in 2007. I
had a really good time... I will watch it
again... But I can't say that it will hold
up as a classic. We will all forget about it
when the next big monster epic comes out --
probably "Cloverfield 2: It's Still Alive"
in 2010.
©
Written by TC Candler |
Director
Matt
Reeves
Cast
Odette
Yustman
Brian Klugman
Charlyne Yi
Chris Mulkey
Jessica Lucas
Lizzy Caplan
Michael Stahl-David
Mike Vogel
Pavel Lychnikoff
Rick Overton
Susse Budde
T.J. Miller
Tim Griffin
Will Greenberg
Running Time
85m
Rated
PG13
Official
Website
n/a |
