I promised I’d post some of my writing, I sorta lied. This week turned out different than expected. Anyway I saw Cloverfield earlier today. In general I really loved it, but I also heard groans of hate and well full out reason for hating. In this review I plan to (like any good review) address: why I loved it, what I didn’t love, and why I think people hated it.
Now, There may be spoilers here and whatnot so continue at your own risk. I will put spoiler tags around spoilers. The review should still be readable when avoiding the things between tags, So, let’s begin with the most noticeable part of the entire movie. The single handy cam used to show everything. Yep, that’s it, just like shown in the trailers. The entire movie is from the perspective of one guy’s camera which is held by a few people, none of which are professionals. That is something I loved. It hasn’t really been done before (ignoring Blair Witch as this was very different). This movie was about a huge catastrophe that happened and about a group of people who experienced it. The use of the handy cam portrays that perfectly and really gets you into the movie. Yes the camera shakes and there are points where you feel some rage, but that really gets the chaos and destruction happening around these people. You actually feel as if this is a real tape you are watching and that brings you closer to the characters and everything they experience. No, the monster is also a huge part of the movie, but not in the way people may expect. There is only two shots where we get a really good view of the monster and each shot lasts no more than 10-20 seconds. The movie is not about that though. The way i want to put it is: “Cloverfield is about people, it is about emotions and the experience of a disaster. It is not some huge action flick with a monster. It is a story that portrays a disaster and focuses on it’s effects, not on the actual disaster itself.” The movie starts off rather slowly for this reason. Now, this is actually awesome, because once the disaster hits, you gets shocked just as much as the people you are watching. By slowly I mean 10-20 minutes before monster, so nothing too terrible. [minor spoiler]Also, this tape is recorded over another tape which pops up sometimes. This seems every unnecessary, but by the end it is totally worth it and actually pretty cool if you look back on it. [/minor spoiler]Now, people probably will come here just to find out what the monster is. I’ll make you spoiler addicted freaks happy. [spoiler]The monster is a sort of cross between the American Godzilla and some insectoid. Oh, and it spews babies out of it’s fucking brain. It is actually rather kickass.[spoiler] Alright so what else did I love? The sound. It was absolutely beautiful. You would swear you were there. Not only did the way it was filmed draw you into the whole film, the sound captivated you and really, just somehow was able to put more emotion into it. Now now, there was no actual score or music though. It was simply the sound of everything being destroyed, the monster, the breathing, the panic in the voices, and everything put together so nicely. Now last thing which i liked. The realness of the people. If you have ever hung around with anybody when something terrible went down or really just regularly, you will know that humans have this sort of instinct to crack jokes, or to try and make a situation better. This is portrayed perfectly during the story. There really is no good way to describe all of this. You have to go to the theaters and go see this movie.
Now the shorter section of things I did not like. The guy who has the camera most of the tim is too stupid and too stereotypically stupid. Then at one point he has a slight glimpse of actual character and emotion. That just didn’t work too much for me, but it wasn’t a huge part. The ending. While I see what they were going for, and fully appreciate it, it was slightly “bleh”. I mean, they could have given some extra clue at the very end as to what was really going, or at least tied up the character story a little more strongly. That’s really it. I mean, I can’t think of much too complain about. I liked it a lot, and it is a whole different take on movies..
Now, why did so many people seem to not like it? Assumptions. They assumed it was an action flick about soema wesome monster and there would be huge scenes where the monster did something epic, or the humans epically took it down. FALSE. Nowhere was this promised. The whole movie is one camera that is rarely very still. This is awesome! Just because you assumed it wouldn’t be this way, doesn’t mean it sucks. People need to learn to appreciate storytelling and the importance of characters. If this movie was done like every other movie, it would suck. A lot. I know I would not have connected with the characters nearly as much as I did, and I’d never be able to feel the fear and panic of the situation.
Alright that seems to be it. I really recommend this movie. Go in open minded and you’ll get something really awesome. Oh and do not wait for the DvD. Theaters are the only way to get the real experience. Or a very dark room, with a nice sized screen. also, the movie is rather short, butfor tha, there is never a dull moment, and you really do come out feeling satisfied completely. Also, I feel as if the movie can easily have a “sequel”. Now i don’t mean after effects, although that is totally possible (well very if you consider one small thing) but also a different view. Whether it be other people in a different area or from the government/military view. Either way it would be awesome, and I want more answers about this Cloverfield Incident. Well, that’s a rap. Comments are accepted as always. Go out and see this movie!
Konrow's Mind 