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Forum index » Archive » Archive: Cloverfield (1-18-08) » Cloverfield: General / Updates

Rather long review - enjoy.

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Bacon Army
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Joined: 01 Nov 2007
Posts: 447

Rather long review - enjoy.
The review itself is spoilerless, but I'm open to any questions, spoilers or no.

Baconarmy here. Here's a review I just posted on a movie forum. In two words - freaking amazing. Any questions you have about the film that haven't already been answered by the other reviewers, BA's here to do so.

Let's cut right to the chase here - Cloverfield is surprisingly good. I mean, I wanted it to be good, no question. But the fact that Cloverfield has three cinematic curses to deal with - the curse of the internet-hyped movie, the curse of the handicam and the curse of the monster movie - meant that, even with JJ Abrams, master of the ambiguous mystery, having creative control over this, it was going to be a tough ask for it to deliver as promised.

Luckily JJ and the crew brought their A-game to the cinema.

Right from the get-go, Cloverfield aims for doing something that's never been done before. Kicking off with a very shadowy introduction from the US Department of Defense, introducing us to "Case Sightings Designate 'Cloverfield'" (in a style that wouldn't be out of place in a video for Dharma on Lost), we don't get plunged straight into the action - rather, we're introduced to the characters Rob (Michael Stahl-David) and Beth (Odette Yustman), who are apparently preparing for a trip to Coney Island. Then, these events (of April 17, if I remember right) are suddenly interrupted by what we're going to be watching for the next 65 minutes or so - the preparation and execution of a going away party for Rob, which is going to be (as we all know) rudely interrupted by a large, very pissed monster.

That's really all you need to know about the story, because, after that, it gets kinda simple to follow. What's not so simple, however, is the camerawork. All the action we see is from the point of view of the camera - this is no Godzilla with its gratuitous wide shots of the monster cutting to close-ups of Matthew Broderick looking pathetic. What we have here is an incredibly well-executed attempt at injecting life into a flailing genre by taking us down to the streets, down to the little people who tend to get squashed in the movies with little fanfare. Watching Cloverfield is an experience to behold - what we see on camera is a solid, if a little samey, tale of heroism and loyalty amongst friends (and stupid blind love, depending on the reading you take from it), with the monster acting as a sideplot, a mere obstacle in this character-driven film. And director Matt Reeves has done a stellar job, managing successfully to evoke a level of tension not seen in similar monster movies. No monster movie of the last couple of decades has anything on the tension and genuine mystery this film creates.

But, once you get past the handicam work, things do start to look a little cliched. The actors, while doing the goddamned best they can under the circumstances, struggle just a little with the fact that their characters are a little two-dimensional for us to feel sympathy for their problem. If you've been following the viral marketing campaign, like myself, you will find it a bit easier to connect with the characters and feel a little sympathy and regret when Reeves and Abrams begin mercilessly killing them off. However, Reeves' characters aren't given anywhere near enough time to develop, and when they do, it's a very clear, clean-cut development, with no intricacies in the personalities at all. You get the relationships, you get the quirks - and you get nothing else. And while some may moan that this is expected, Abrams, Reeves and screenwriter Goddard have all had good experience in the character development field, with Felicity, Alias and Lost all under their belts. It's a pity they cannot transfer this to the big screen.

Nevertheless, in spite of this lacklustre character development, the film's biggest strength is not the handicam work, nor is it the monster (which, quite frankly, is f***ing AMAZING, and one of the scariest things I've seen in a while) or the superb SFX that Reeves and his crew have eked out of a $35mill budget. In fact, the film's biggest strength is its pacing and restraint. As previously mentioned, Reeves plays the audience like a pro, ensuring that everything is tense enough without us getting too pissed off because we're seeing and being told nothing. There is no backstory to our monster and there is very little backstory for the characters who get it, but we don't care. We're too caught up in gripping the edges of our seats, because Reeves' building of tension is so wonderfully even, with every major setpiece being delivered just before we starting to tire of our 'heroes'. This is best exemplified in the centrepiece of Cloverfield - the big ol' monster. All through the film, from around 20 minutes in till around about 10 minutes before the end, we catch glimpses, see unfocused shots, here about the sheer terror of the main monster. Yet, Reeves manages to pace all these moments out evenly so that we're given tantalising tidbits, keeping us waiting happily until the very end, when we get a (very, very scary) look at the monster. And in another example, there is a scene in a darkened subway tunnel where the only light is the light on the camera. However, when the characters here a clicking sound, they fumble with the night vision on the camera for a minute, before it turns on, and a fantastically-framed, if a little cliche, scene is revealed, guaranteed to evoke a breathy "Oh my God" or somesuch exclamation of surprise.

Also notable of this film is the strong sense of irony that pervades it, from the heroics/blind stupidity of Rob and co.'s actions, to the contrasting of the scenes involving Rob and Beth going to Coney Island and the monster laying the smackdown on NY while these same heroes are cowering in fear, to the army's reluctance to do anything army-like because of the sheer size of and danger posed by the monster, even if it would mean saving lives. It's a surprisingly well-told fable of the irony of life in general, and how even the nicest person can get rained on by crap (or, in this case, something much more sinister - but I'll leave you to find out what during the movie). The ending, in particular, wonderfully evokes this concept, and you'll sit there for a while afterwards pondering it all.

Cloverfield gives nothing concrete to the viewer, and expects everything from the viewer in return. Normally, this kind of arrogance would be frowned upon, but when the film is a masterfully ambiguous, fascinatingly-shot, superbly-paced monster movie such as Cloverfield, such arrogance can be forgiven. May JJ continue to screw with our minds for years to come.

4/5

Btw, wait til the end of the credits (which are actually quite slow) - there's something (a little something, but something) at the end. And sorry if the review is long. I just had a lot to say.

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:38 pm

triforceguyver
Boot

Joined: 10 Jul 2007
Posts: 31
Location: CoRoNa, NY

just tell me, why does whats her name expload, or appear like she will expload as we see in the trailer?

her name starts with an M. answer to this Q would be greatly appriciated.

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:02 pm

Bacon Army
Unfettered

Joined: 01 Nov 2007
Posts: 447

triforceguyver wrote:

just tell me, why does whats her name expload, or appear like she will expload as we see in the trailer?

her name starts with an M. answer to this Q would be greatly appriciated.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):

Ah yes, Marlena. Well, when Rob & co decide to walk through the subway tunnels to reach Beth at her apartment, they hear the scuttling noise and three really creepy looking monsters with pointy beaks and lots of beady eyes attack them. Marlena beats one off Hud, but gets bitten by one that tackles her shortly after.

Later, they get to the temporary army hospital, and while Rob's telling the army guys about how he's going into the city and they ain't gonna stop them, Marlena tells Hud that she "doesn't feel too good" and starts bleeding from her eyes and mouth. Marine doctors scream that they've "got a bite!!" and drag Marlena off, where they chop her head off and she blows up. So, yep. She gets bitten by a little MGP.

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 12:06 am

triforceguyver
Boot

Joined: 10 Jul 2007
Posts: 31
Location: CoRoNa, NY

dude, that is rediculous. Im going to go watch it at midnight so CHEA!!!! im so stoked. thank you.

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:10 am

Bacon Army
Unfettered

Joined: 01 Nov 2007
Posts: 447

triforceguyver wrote:

dude, that is rediculous. Im going to go watch it at midnight so CHEA!!!! im so stoked. thank you.

Trust me, it's less ridiculous than it sounds. And besides, the mini-MGPs are so goddamned cool, you'll forgive any misgivings you have with those scenes.

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:14 am

triforceguyver
Boot

Joined: 10 Jul 2007
Posts: 31
Location: CoRoNa, NY

Bacon Army wrote:

triforceguyver wrote:

dude, that is rediculous. Im going to go watch it at midnight so CHEA!!!! im so stoked. thank you.

Trust me, it's less ridiculous than it sounds. And besides, the mini-MGPs are so goddamned cool, you'll forgive any misgivings you have with those scenes.

allright, i saw that little tease at MTV right before the little MGPs showed up. like right when the night vision turns on and they start running. I hear that they were like fleas on its body, and it scratched them off or something... is there any truth to that or is this just random BS to justify their apperence.

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:25 am

Bacon Army
Unfettered

Joined: 01 Nov 2007
Posts: 447

triforceguyver wrote:

Bacon Army wrote:

triforceguyver wrote:

dude, that is rediculous. Im going to go watch it at midnight so CHEA!!!! im so stoked. thank you.

Trust me, it's less ridiculous than it sounds. And besides, the mini-MGPs are so goddamned cool, you'll forgive any misgivings you have with those scenes.

They fall off of MGP. They're like oversized ticks. And yes, the scene where Hud's nightvision turns on - one of the scariest scenes in the film.

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:30 am

Dr. Chaos
Boot

Joined: 16 Jan 2008
Posts: 20

Alright, kind of a stupid question but does the monster look like a sea creature to you?

From the way some people have described it, I would half expect it to be hiding in a prehistoric volcano somewhere eating a T-Rex like a banana.

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:34 am

badkarma
Boot

Joined: 28 Mar 2007
Posts: 19

Bacon, that was a good review of a mediocre film. I really wanted to like Cloverfield, and some parts were fun, but the movie was just too damned coy...

Also, I generally like some sort of exposition in my movies. For instance, the filmmakers could have concocted some sort of origin, or purpose for the creature's arrival in Manhattan.

In Alien, you never find out why the creatures are on LV-426, but you damn well get to see one of them (up close and personal) and you learn the "nature" of the monster in the process (from facehugger, to chest burster, to fully grown drone). You don't get ANY of this kind of satisfaction from Cloverfield, just a bunch of disjointed "events" and glimpses. Some coherent backstory or explanation for the main entity and the smaller creatures needed to be provided.

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:39 am

badkarma
Boot

Joined: 28 Mar 2007
Posts: 19

Dr. Chaos wrote:

In short, no.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):

it looked "alien" to me

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:40 am

xboyonfirex
Entrenched

Joined: 05 Dec 2007
Posts: 1069

badkarma wrote:

coy? really??? I never thought J.J. Abrams would be coy... I mean, everything is FULLY explained on LOST. Who would have known J.J. Abrams to be coy... shocker.

Especially since they've already stated that they wanted us to use our imaginations for the big questions. which, I have a good imagination- So I have no problem w/ them leaving out the origin of the monster or why it came to NYC. They give us plenty of implications... But daddy Abrams doesn't have to hold my hand through the entire thing.

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:48 am

Bacon Army
Unfettered

Joined: 01 Nov 2007
Posts: 447

Dr. Chaos wrote:

The monster looks as aquatic as a boot - doesn't look like it's been designed for the sea, but you might well find one in there. Not that it looks like a boot. Kinda reminded me of this from Oddworld (a little, mainly the legs).

badkarma wrote:

Why thank you. Personally, I think the film worked better without backstory, as something like this, IMO, would have become to much like Emmerich's Godzilla with exposition. It's the fact that this monster's come out of nowhere, nobody knows what it is or how to kill it, it's just there, that's so frightening, and I think this lack of knowledge is very well exploited in this film. I like these kind of films (not all the time, but you know) where the fear is what we don't know, and there's no way to explain it.

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:49 am

My_Name_Is_Dan
Veteran

Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Posts: 97

Bacon,

You say they

Spoiler (Rollover to View):

chopped Marlenas head off.
They never chopped her head off?
Didnt she just explode??

I never saw her head go flying...

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:51 am

Bacon Army
Unfettered

Joined: 01 Nov 2007
Posts: 447

My_Name_Is_Dan wrote:

Bacon,

You say they

Spoiler (Rollover to View):

chopped Marlenas head off.
They never chopped her head off?
Didnt she just explode??

I never saw her head go flying...

I'm pretty sure they

Spoiler (Rollover to View):

chopped her head off. I can't be certain, I just got back from the toilet shortly before then, about when the guy with the blown open stomach is wheeled past, but I think they cut it off. She may have just exploded. It's one of the things I'm a little hazy on.

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:58 am

badkarma
Boot

Joined: 28 Mar 2007
Posts: 19

xboyonfirex wrote:

Touch�, Xboy. I have to confess that I'm not a viewer of Lost, but I'm aware of Abrams' reputation for vagueness.

I do appreciate mystery and nuance, when it's well done a la Blade Runner or Alien...I simply believe that Cloverfield wasn't executed to the same high standard.

I previously discussed my opinion of Alien, so let's take another of my favorites as an example. In Blade Runner, Ridley Scott (who also masterfully directed Alien) crafted an intelligent, thought-provoking film that left many important questions unanswered. Ultimately, the viewer is left to ponder on his/her own whether Deckard (Harrison Ford's character) is or is not a replicant...the film does not answer this question for you.

That is the type of nuance I appreciate. Essentially, Cloverfield feels like a gargantuan "teaser"...that's my opinion.

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 2:25 am

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