Cloverfield Movie Review

It is a Sci Fi Blockbuster, a Monster Movie, and a Wretchedness Flick.

Gutsy, brave and doughty! This movie was heavily marketed. I saw the first Promo a full year ago. For all the millions spent, the trailer reveals nothing.

Do you remember that failed Godzilla remake starring Matthew Broderick. It too was a big marketing push, but they didn’t reveal the modern redesign of Godzilla. Well, in defense here, Cloverfield doesn’t have a beloved creature, so there’s one less hurdle. But to invest this much money in a movie, and attempt to keep it a secret, is incredible. It’s an oxymoron by Hollywood standards. They’d tell you the ending of a movie if they could (like the trailer for Sunshine.)

This anomaly, this movie, is the best kept secret. No revelations, no major plot points, or even the true genre is revealed. It’s a total mystery of a movie, with only the awe and impact of the trailer as the pull.

That magnetic attraction pulling moviegoers to theaters is caused by stark images. The image of the head of the Statue of Liberty careening down the street is enough to pique any curiosity. Keeping the mood, the promotional poster shows our Statue of Liberty in her newly decapitated stature. And those two vivid and coordinating pieces of gawk candy are enough to get the job done. They cause one to ask what? What is causing this mayhem?

The anticipation is always higher when one knows to have the Bar position high. The entire marketing campaign compels even the laziest of the movie going public to suddenly expect much. Naturally, one will compare it to similar movies. It’s obvious predecessors are Godzilla and Independence Day. But, Cloverfield is so much more.

Cloverfield is best described by its absence of movie clichés.

There are no catchphrases.

There is no motley crew on a last ditch effort to attach the world.

There is no magnificent and heartwarming scene where a dog is saved.

There is no trigger happy General.

There is no scene of a Government authority figure saying “God help us” or any variation on the theme.

There is no veil time wasted on the journey of the reluctant hero.

There is no triumph of the human spirit.

This is a smart movie, a clever blockbuster. Much credit of the movie goes to J.J. Abrams for his brilliance and innovation. First, you have to here his resume.

He was the creator of Alias. One of the creators of Lost. He is executive producer on Alias and Lost. Abrams is a writer of aforementioned, as well as Armageddon. This feels like a welcome apology for those that suffered through Armageddon.

The Film technique is that of a handheld camera. The movie opens as a collection of party goers filming goodbyes and salutes to their friend going to Japan. Like The Blair Witch Project, this is all first person camera work. How they maintained the balance between sci fi blockbuster and handheld camera is an achievement of film making. They still stage some great shots and get the Special effect on camera. The handheld perspective maintains the suspense, allowing the audience to learn at the same rate as the onscreen characters.

The camera work isn’t the only slice of reality. The images of New York quickly recall on the appearance of our very own ground zero. Even complete with dust from demolished buildings.

The breakout star of the film is T.J. Miller. T.J. plays the character Hud Platt, who is the best friend to the lead character. Amid all the drama, Hud is the source of comedy. His personality is like that of Peter Parker/Spiderman- naturally cracks jokes to hold himself together. He holds the handheld camera, and becomes the default narrator. With all the heavy drama on screen, Hud balances many of the scenes to kept the audience from being overwhelmed by the scenario or the camera technique.

It’s a good movie for sure. But it may not be the movie for everybody. It’s a smart movie, point blank. You could even call it a litmus test. This is the product one would get if an independent director got a occupy of a Hollywood Blockbuster. The dumb has mostly been filtered out. This one of a kind masterpiece from Hollywood is worth the price of admission.