Cloverfield

Last night I took the opportunity to round up a bunch of friends and go see the first big movie of 2008, Cloverfield. I remember seeing the trailer when I went to see Transformers thinking that the movie looked great, but somehow what/who the monster was would leak out by January. I’m glad I was wrong. Somehow they were able to keep this movie monster hush. I heard everything from them not showing the monster to the monster being some mutated version of Teddy Ruxpin. This mystery allowed for the Internet buzz to build as people speculated what the monster was or wasn’t. Still the movie had to be more than just Godzilla 2008. Not to mention we had a King Kong remake a few years ago and who wants to see that again. Cloverfield needed some substance if it was going to be a hit.

Cloverfield is shot entirely in first person point-of-view. You will either love how different it is or hate how different it is. Most people seemed to like it. I didn’t see anyone puking in the corner of the theater from motion sickness.

The movie starts as Rob (Michael Stahl-David) is leaving for Japan to start a new job as Vice President. His friends decided to throw him a party and decide to have people make video confessions to Rob so he can look at them when he’s in Japan (the reason for having the camera around). With the camera rolling we meet the other characters in the film, Beth (Odette Yustman), Jessica (Lily Ford), Marlena (Lizzy Caplan), Jason (Mike Vogel), and the narrator/camera man Hud (T.J Miller).

Once everyone is partying, there is a loud boom outside. Everyone rushes to the TV to see what happened assuming it’s another terrorist attack. The report says that there was a capsized ship by the Statue Of Liberty. All the partygoers rush to the roof to see if they can get a glimpse of whatever is happening. Suddenly there is a loud explosion and everyone rushes to the streets and that’s when the real mayhem ensues.

Why is the camera still rolling? This is their attempt to record whatever it is that’s happening to New York City. I guess I can buy that. I’m sure there would really be some idiot that would want to get that footage.

So this film needed more than a monster to keep people interested, and it is found in the relationship between Rob and Beth. Rob is in love with Beth and she calls saying that she’s trapped in her apartment. Now Rob feels compelled to save her and is willing to risk his life. Saving her means staying in NYC while this monster is destroying everything in sight. The other friends join along to help and Hud gets it all captured on film.

I think about my date life, and if I would be willing to risk my life. Not so sure about that. The phone conversation would go something like this.

Girl: Help! I’m stuck in my apartment
Me: Oh no! Are you okay?
Girl: No I can’t move
Me; Dang! Are you serious?That sucks. Is there anybody there to help you?
Girl: No! I'm hurt bad.
(Thinking the monster is right by her apartment)
Me: I’ll call 9-1-1.I love you but I gotta go now there is a monster running around eating people.


Of course some of the stuff in the movie was extremely unbelievable, but I got over it very quickly. I’ve never been in the middle of a monster attack so I’m not sure how things would really work out. I just remember thinking that more people should be dead by now. One of my concerns was that they were not going to show the monster. They do show the monster and more. A lot like The Mist, during some scenes you will just see parts of the monster and not the whole thing. Don’t worry there are plenty of chances to see the beast, and it doesn’t disappoint. I’m still not quite sure what it is.

My favorite character (Other than Jessica) was Hud. He was the comic relief in the film. He said and did some pretty inappropriate things and he reminded me a lot of people I know. You would definitely need someone there to lighten the mood in the middle of an attack. I wouldn’t want everyone around me freaking out.

My suggestion: Great start to 2008. I really enjoyed the flick and would recommend it. It’s something new and something different. A breathe of fresh air for Monster movies and for Hollywood as a whole. I’m glad J.J Abrams thinks outside of the box. I hope to see more of the same in the future. The movie may leave you with the “What if this happened in my city” question. Hopefully you’ll do what I would do and that’s leave.