It’s scary-looking, it’s mad, it’s frickin’ huge and it’s just destroyed half of New York. What is it? Cloverfield
Sounding like the name of a Dublin pub, Cloverfield is the latest movie from Lost creator J.J Abrams. Filmed entirely on a handy cam, Cloverfield tells the story of a group of young friends and their struggle to survive after a monster attacks New York.
Imagine Godzilla filmed from a Blair Witch perspective and you’ll have some kind of idea of what this movie has to offer. I must admit that going into this movie, I was very weary that it was filmed entirely on handy cam but once you see it you understand that the movie could not have been filmed any other way.
The story is told from the survivors’ viewpoints and through unedited cuts (which are essentially flashbacks) on the handycam. It is through these cuts that more depth is added to the characters and it’s here where you begin to care about them. Victims of mass destruction have never had their story told better than this.
For the first half hour or so the film tends to drag, but as soon the Statue of Liberty’s head is launched like a baseball the action is non stop. The last hour of the film is a roller coaster of a ride.
Be warned that if you tend to suffer from motion sickness, chances are you WILL be sick at some point throughout this movie. Cinemas should be handing out barf bags for this film. About ten people were sick during the screening I saw.
The entire cast is fine, with stand out performances from Michael Stahl David and Odette Yustman. Direction as well is on-point by Matt Reeves in his first major motion picture.
It’s not perfect by any means and is far from the life changing movie experience the viral marketing campaign promised. The plot does lack substance and there is no clear explanation of what Cloverfield is.
It is original and while some people may not like the whole handy cam direction, this is a movie that you have to experience. While not excellent, it is very refreshing and full of white knuckle moments.
Sound & Vision 
