People are gonna want to know… how it all went down.

 

Cloverfield. You’re either going to love or hate this movie. From the people I’ve spoken with, there is no middle-ground. You’ll either walk out happy, or feeling like you wasted 8 bucks. Luckily, I enjoyed the fuck out of Cloverfield. It’s an actual “monster movie” that delivered. Everything about this movie worked for me. The fact that it’s shot in first person point-of-view only adds to how great it is. Innovative. Terrifying. Touching. Aggravating. Disastrous. Entertaining. Cloverfield is all of these things.

 

Cloverfield is the name of the “incident” that took place on May 22. The entire film is a tape recovered from the scene, which shows the events that transpired that day. Robert Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David) is about to move to Japan from New York. His brother Jason (Mike Vogel) throws him a surprise going-away party. Rob is not only going to Japan for his career. He is also leaving to run away from his true-love, Beth McIntyre (Odette Yustman), who he is unable to express his true feelings to. During the party, a tanker explodes in a near-by harbor causing everyone to head out and see what happened. Turmoil ensues as buildings begin to fall and explosions seem to be happening all around. While Manhattan is being destroyed, Rob gets a frantic call from Beth stating that she is trapped. With the world around him falling apart (literally) Rob decides he has to take this chance to rescue the girl of his dreams. No matter the cost.

 

Cloverfield succeeds in ways other movies of the “Monster Movie” genre have failed because it is smart. We don’t get some scientific explanation as to where the monster came from or why he came. We don’t get steady visuals on the monster so we know what is attacking the city. There is no savior. No one is safe. This is the key. NO ONE is safe, which is how it’s supposed to be when a completely unpredictable event happens on an unsuspecting city. The story is fueled by emotion; not logic or responsible thinking.

 

The handheld point-of-view is also a great choice for this movie. It makes it real. It makes it plausible. Your eyes are glued to the screen and you’re on the edge of your seat hoping the camera doesn’t turn left or right. Then at times you’re wanting the camera to look up or hold on a spot for just a few more seconds. You hesitate when the decision is made to turn the light on, or turn on night vision in a pitch-black tunnel. Like everything else in this movie, it works.

 

To me, Cloverfield is not a monster movie. It’s a monster movie wrapped around a love story. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a sucker for a good love story. A guy not admitting his true feelings until its absolutely necessary, it’s impossible to not relate to on a personal level. My friends have told me that the love story part of Cloverfield takes away from the story, but I feel that it is the story. It’s not possible to make a successful 90-minute “follow a monster while he destroys a city” movie. (See 1998’s Godzilla). In all honesty, Cloverfield is the first movie in a long time where I actually wanted to clap after watching it. This is what a movie experience is supposed to be like. Props Matt Reeves, Drew Goddard, and JJ Abrams. Props.

 

8.5 out of 10.

 

Tags: Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Monster, Review