Random Musings - 3 geeks on life, the universe and everything.

Cloverfield — Monster Masterpiece

Written on February 6, 2008 at 2:49 pm about Films by Tom
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I had high expectations going into Cloverfield. Having heard from several people about the high quality special effects, dramatic camera work, and overall good acting, I was prepared to be stunned — or so I thought. I hadn’t realized until I entered the theatre that the entire film was shot from a single Handi-Cam, giving it a homemade, Blair Witch feel to it. The dramatic cuts between old and new segments of tape worked well in increasing suspense, by giving the impression that the main character, Hub, was fumbling with the camera. Another great idea was in using the flashlight and night-vision on the cam to add more drama to darker scenes. There’s many more examples I could give; suffice to say that this was an idea done to its full potential.

The monster design and SFX were also very impressive. I had seen no promo shots of the monster itself, so my mental slate was clean. All I knew was that it was large. This was indeed true, but what I didn’t expect was the spiderlike feel it had to it. As I hate spiders, this made the movie that much better for me. I was able to suspend my usual disbelief of “Oh, there’s no way that could evolve” until the end of the movie. The only complaint I had was in the use of the mini-monsters. The idea of parasitic aliens has been done to death. Hollywood needs a new idea there. Still, it worked for this movie.

The final climactic ending, along with the cryptic message after the end credits, really made this a great movie for me. I didn’t expect or want a cliched ‘happy ending,’ and I was satisfied in that regard. All in all, a five star blitz.