:: Reviews ::

Cloverfield
by Jason DeShaw

Minor spoilers ahead...

It's been called a "Blair Witch Godzilla" movie and after watching it myself, that is exactly how I would describe it.  But that doesn't mean it's a bad thing.  In fact, it's a very good thing.  This movie is excellent for what it is, a monster movie shot entirely from a handheld camera's perspective.

Taking place in a post-9/11 Manhattan, this movie is probably the most realistic monster movie I've ever seen.  Well, as realistic as monster movies can be I suppose.  It's not just that it is shot from a handheld camera, but that helps greatly.  A lot has to do with how people act and respond to the world around them during a monster attack.  Upon the first signs of monster attack, you hear people questioning others, "Another terrorist attack?"  In the world we live in today, that's probably what people would think as soon as they see a building explode.  That and freaking out, which is also what people do, but again, in what seems to be a realistic way.  Normally, when thinking of monster movies, you'll see people in packs running down the street in chaos.  In Cloverfield, you see people huddled in groups pointing at buildings and taking pictures with their camera phones of the Statue of Liberty's head on the ground.  Annoying, but realistic.

The way the monster is dealt with I think is good overall.  At first you only get a glimpse of the monster, before people even know what is going on.  The next time you start to get a feel for what this thing is when the characters catch some news coverage.  Again, realism.  As the movie goes forward you get to see more and more of the monster until eventually you get a pretty amazing shot.  Personally, I would have liked to have kept the monster's appearance more of a secret and leave more to imagination.  Not because it was so much of a let down, but whenever you put a giant CGI monster on the screen it does take away from the realism (which this movie was capturing fairly well).  On the flip side though, it is a very unique looking monster and I'm sure people would have been upset if you never really got to see it.

The plot that holds the movie together is a little eyeball rolling, but it merely provides a reason to run around a monster-filled war zone.  Also, the plot is revealed in a somewhat unique way, because the main video you are watching is one that taped over another from an earlier date.  Periodically you'll get a few clips from the video underneath, which provides for some more backbone.

As always though, there are some cases where you have to suspend logic and grant a few movie elements.  For one, the characters are probably using the single greatest camera in existence.  This thing takes a beating like no other.  Secondly, people seem to heal pretty fast.  In one scene, someone gets pulled off of a bar that impaled them.  In the next, they are running around like they are fine.  If you can look past these few instances though, the movie is still very life-like.

The movie is surprisingly short, only a little over 70 minutes, but it's still fun.  Some viewers may be disappointed by the ending, but personally I think it is realistic (sticking with the theme).  If you are watching a video from a monster attack shot on a handheld camera, you aren't going to get a nice tidy ending like we so often expect from movies these days.  But if you go into the movie looking to watch a crazy monster movie, you should enjoy it.