|
|||||||||||||||
Cloverfield was one of the best hyped movies and best kept secrets of 2007 due to some rather brilliant viral marketing across the Internet. Speculations abounded about not only the premise of the movie, but the monster itself which was teased little by little as more information came out. Described by many as The Blair Witch Project meets Godzilla, which isn’t too far from the truth, Cloverfield takes the idea of a monster attack from Asia to the United States, though that has technically happened before, but I’d rather not remember our remake of Godzilla. On May 22 it is the eve before Rob Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David) is to leave for Japan and take a vice-president position at an unnamed company. Rob’s brother Jason (Mike Vogel) and Lily (Jessica Lucas), Jason’s girlfriend, have been planning a farewell party for him. Their plan is also to document the event and Rob’s friend Hud (T.J Miller) is asked to video tape. A few mishaps occur during the evening such as Beth (Odette Yustman), a girl that Rob has slept with, shows up and there are some tense feelings. Hud meanwhile seems interested in Marlena (Lizzy Caplan), but has limited success in getting her to pay much attention to him. During what should be an evening of fun, there is a sudden disruption. At first, it seems that it might have been an earthquake, and then there is speculation that it is a terrorist attack, but then the realization become clear; a monster has found its way into New York City. The friends flee the party with Hud continuing to video tape but when Rob gets a call from Beth who is trapped and wounded in her apartment, he decides to go back and save her, followed by his friend In theory, Cloverfield is a good idea. Having the entire movie shot from the point of view of those who are involved in the attack, not to mention starting out on a light note, is a great approach. Much of what you see is what we can surmise that you would really see if such an event were to occur. The reactions, the destruction, and everything else is really a good premise. The movie goes further however and doesn’t just involve those trying to escape harm, but we see moments when the military become involved as well as glimpses of news reports to fill in some of the details. The comparison to Blair Witch is obvious, though Blair Witch in itself owes a great deal to another movie that is legendary as well as notorious, and that is Cannibal Holocaust. Blair Witch however involved a great deal of clam though most of the movie and much of the filming found in Cloverfield is more authentic I feel as it features je3rky movements, occasional camera shots where things aren’t in frame or you may have footage of the ground while you hear the characters talking about the events, their present emotional level very easy to sense, and you never quite get a good shot of the monster itself. However, New York isn’t just under attack by a huge creature but it has small, parasitic beasts that keep dropping off it and have started attacking people on the ground. This adds another layer to the film as, escaping a behemoth is one thing, but dog-sized monsters which are fast and vicious is a little different. There were reports after Cloverfield was released that some viewer were experiencing a sense of nausea due to the camera movements, and I could see how that would be completely possible while viewing this on a large screen. Even on a 46” television there are times when it does become disorienting, but Cloverfield really wants to give you the look and feel as if this really happened, much like the footage that was seen after the 9/11 attacks. The chaos and panic is occasionally thrown off by inserting segments of a date that Rob and Beth had a few weeks earlier and the footage itself is made in such a way as it appears to be property of the United States Defense Department. I do have some problems with Cloverfield however, and that begins with hearing J.J. Abrams comments about going to Japan with his son and begin surprised that Godzilla was still present in toy stores. I’m not sure why this should be a surprise as there are presently twenty-eight films that have been released over fifty years, and Japan’s biggest export even has his own statue located in Ginza. Cloverfield might be the American effort to create a monster movie, but it is no where the iconic masterpiece that Godzilla has become. The monster in Cloverfield never is given and true origins and while there are speculations, there is nothing concert. Godzilla on the other hand, as I have written before in reviews for the series, was originally meant to be a cautionary tale of what could happen with nuclear war and originally was supposed to be just a single film, but the popularity of the monster began a national icon. Even the first few movies in the Godzilla series show him as being the villain until later when a great evil presents itself in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster where it is revealed that the only reason Godzilla has been destroying Japanese cities is because the humans attacked him first. The monster in Cloverfield is supposed to be an infant that has somehow found its way into Manhattan and is frightened. That works since it does give the monster a reason for attacking, but unfortunately it’s lost and not made known to the audience. Again it all comes back to making us speculate on the how’s and why’s of the film. The only thing that Cloverfield has over Godzilla is that it at least has characters that you can identify with. This has nothing to do with the fact that Godzilla is Japanese, it’s just that the main characters seen in those films aren’t that interesting and as the series moved forward, more and more of the movies dealt with alien invaders, taking it away from reality. But, I don’t feel that Cloverfield gives fans of Japan’s kaiju films something that is nearly on the same level and if you take away the handheld camera look of the movie, it’s just another monster movie that wants to be Godzilla. The movie includes commentary from Matt Reeves, the director of the film, and really gives a lot of the background information on the origins of the movie itself. There is also a documentary, behind-the-scenes look at Cloverfield, and this is where you can have some greater appreciation for what was done as there was a great deal of green screen used in the production of the film. Places that you think are New York really aren’t, and that is an impressive accomplishment in my opinion. You will also get a look at how the visual effects were accomplished as well as the creation of the monster, which is very underwhelming when you see it outside of the movie. There are also deleted scenes, alternate endings, and some outtakes featuring the cast just having a bit of fun. The big surprise though is no BluRay release, but Paramount may not have been quite prepared following the demise of HD-DVD and I’m sure with time we’ll see a high definition release. Cloverfield isn’t necessarily a bad monster movie, but I don’t think that it’s one that will leave the imprint on cinema like Godzilla has. The film is definitely a more unique take on a monster attack, and I wouldn’t put it past Toho to try and replicate the same idea when they finally begin work on their next Godzilla movie, but I also don’t expect Japan’s undisputed kaiju champion to take on this monster like he did one of our own that deserved it. If you’re a fan of the giant monster movies, Cloverfield is definitely entertaining even without the rubber suits and miniatures, but it lacks the fun in favor of realism, and that’s something that might be disappointing to many who just love seeing old school city stomping. -mike-
|
|||||||||||||||
