Movie Review - CLOVERFIELD

It all started with a trailer.  A trailer that apparently most people saw, being as it was in front of Transformers which grossed about 320 million dollars in the United States alone.  This trailer, however, sure left its mark on a lot of people.  An enigmatic teaser spot, the preview revealed only minor details of a film that would become an internet sensation well before anyone really knew anything about it.  Viewers were provided with the three clues: an attack on New York City, a name (J.J. Abrams - creator of Lost and Alias), and a date... 1-18-08.  After doing some research, one would be able to find out that the movie was being directed by a man named Matt Reeves and that it was written by one Drew Goddard.  For those of you who don't know, Matt Reeves was the man behind the camera, page and production of a little show called Felicity and Drew Goddard put pen to paper to come up with many episodes of a show called Alias (both nest eggs of the mind of J.J. Abrams). Well, after months of waiting, there is only one question that remains about the movie that would become Cloverfield...

What kind of movie can the creator of Lost, the writer of Alias, and the mind behind Felicity put on the big screen that could live up to the hype created by a well planned advertisement?

The answer is simple really.  A good one.  A good one that, not so surprisingly, combines elements of all three of the previously mentioned show's strengths while providing its audience a unique movie going experience that is truly among the most memorable movie experiences to grace the screen in recent years.

Cloverfield is, at its heart and soul, the tale of 5 friends and their struggle for survival during an unprecedented attack on New York City.  The gimmic? Well, that would be the giant monster that is responsible for said attack.  Here is where this film delves into dangerous waters.  It is well precedented in film history that if you sell a movie as one thing, you had better deliver what you promise or suffer the wrath of an angry audience.  The biggest example of late?  M. Night Shyamalan's The Village.  Sold to the audience as a movie about a town living in fear from the monsters that live in the woods around it, the movie inevitably failed in theatres because of its lack of, well... monsters.  While the main ideology of Cloverfield centers on the human emotion and how one reacts to tragedy, the viewers will certainly be treated to their fair share of Manhattan-mashing, monster action.  The funny thing is, there might actually be too much monster in this cleverly disguised drama.

The strength in Cloverfield's filmmaking comes from the three principle creators' past strengths in television. What made Felicity into the popular show that it became was the strength found in the relationships depicted in the show.  A unique realism showed audiences that people on TV can be just like people in real life.  Cloverfield banks on this realism, as it tells its entire tale from the point of view of a camcorder held by the people experiencing the tragedy.  A first hand enactment, that unless done to perfection, would make the movie into a cheesy 60's horror film.  What helps this, is the young and fairly unknown cast that allows the audience to buy into the idea that what you are seeing is really just four people in front of a camera (and one behind it) that happen to be documenting a horrid tragedy.  To keep audiences engaged, Drew Goddard throws in many thrills and moments so intense, you almost forget to breathe; a tactic he most obviously used to bring Alias to the public eye as a viewer-favored thrill ride for six seasons.  J.J. Abrams involvement?  Well, simply, he is the kind of mind in Hollywood that would roll the dice on a monster movie that doesn't spend 100% of its screen time focusing on a monster (seriously, are we ever going to find out what's in that black smoke?).  

There will definitely be a split audience coming out of this film, but hopefully careful planning and brilliant marketing will sway the vote to the positive side.  Unfortunately, Cloverfield is destined to become a wonderfully unique and innovative film that will be unfairly critiqued due to internet hype.  Cloverfield begs audiences to put themselves into the experience, offering them a gateway through a video camera and daring asks the audience, "What would you do in the face of disaster?  Who would you go back for?"

Cloverfield

* * * and a half

Directed by Matt Reeves