Cloverfield (2008 Paramount Pictures/Bad Robot)
by Zedian 
I find it a very appropriate time period to release a film such as Cloverfield, a movie that documents that self-preservation is now less instinctive than ensuring the survival and safety of a loved one. And to me the reason I bring this up is because of these disaster-ridden times in a post-911 world, terror could rear its’ ugly head at any given moment and it wouldn’t matter your social, financial or even status of power at that point; all that would matter is what matters most to you. Here in Cloverfield the concept of a gigantic alien (or to those who love to debate ‘aliens’) may seem far removed from anything that could happen in reality but the scenario played out is indeed plausible.
The story of Cloverfield is rather simple we are introduced to Rob (Michael Stahl-David) is a twenty-something hot shot corporate who is off to the shores of Japan to start a new career path. The first 15 minutes are documented with Rob holding the camera then passing it off to his older brother Jason (Mike Vogel). Eventually Jason meets HUD played by T.J. Miller (notice the clever name as in Heads Up Display) who they pass the camera off to. Jason tells HUD to hold the camera and have everyone give testimonials about what their thoughts are about Rob leaving overseas. Eventually after making his rounds in the party HUD goes outside after Rob is pissed off about hearing that his ex-girlfriend Beth (Odette Yustman) brought over another guy. After HUD and Jason sit down and consult Rob about his girl troubles we hear a loud explosion and for 5 minutes of suspended time seem to be in a New York 9/11 all over again. What could have possibly did this? Eventually Rob, HUD and Jason get stuck with Marlena (Lizzy Caplan) and Jason’s girlfriend Lily (Jessica Lucas).
What really drives me to feel Cloverfield is how it isn’t told in a similar fashion as most movies of its’ kind are. Instead of the main characters who have connections with authorities such as the military and eventually all uniformly come together to neutralize the problem (or as in this case the monster at hand). Instead these are normal everyday people they are helpless and all they could possibly do is just try to survive. It goes back to that thing that the importance of protecting those close to us is greatly magnified in a situation like this. So Rob with all 4 of his friends begin running with everyone else to escape only for Rob to get a voicemail on his cell phone from Beth who says she is not ok. I give props to truly great usage of sound and editing, this beloved brainchild has been woven together to truly create a great sense of hysteria and pandemonium. When the military first make their way and HUD is holding the camera in hand all he can do is watch Rob, Marlena and Lily from afar as bullets fire loudly in the air.
Call it horror for a modern-day Youtube generation but there is no denying that the way the film was shot will cause indefinite polarity between views. For some, the Blair Witch Project style camera is a work of sheer art making this movie that much more realistic since we only get to see what’s on the camera. Then there are those who will feel a great deal of discomfort and nausea in which there have been reports of people leaving the movie early due to wanting to vomit or dizziness. I fall more into the first category and truly feel the cinematography couldn’t have been expressed as well without delving into this type of medium.
Not being able to see everything in perfect scope is perhaps what I find most endearing about Cloverfield. You never get a good shots of the monster as it’s a je ne sais quoi (difficult object to define) monstrous deviation. We never hear of its’ orgin or why 
all this happened. Was it something harvesting and manifesting its life under water surviving off of Slushos’ ingredients? Or was this something the government made? Oh wait I know it came from space? There you go Cloverfield is shrouded in so much mystery and don’t even get me started on the ending. Which in itself could leave some scratching their head thinking what the hell just happened in the last 84 minutes. That my friends is what I like most about this movie, it’s attempt at taking the shackles off and breaking conventionalism. It could have spoon-fed us every detail and end the appropriate Hollywood fashion but that would make it nothing more than a doppelganger of every other monster affair.
Granted Cloverfield isn’t perfect, it’s a rather short film and I couldn’t help but wonder if there was more than one monster…the one that HUD captures in the end on his camera is a lot shorter than the one tearing down the walls of NYC. Regardless though the movie casted more unknown actors who don’t act or say the most appropriate lines because they are regular individuals reacting to a situation such as this…just imagine if Tom Cruise or Johnny Depp were running wild in the streets of Manhattan (you would get War of the Worlds).
Great special effects, shaky camera that some will love and some will hate, a excellent sense of mystery and never truly finding out what is going on coupled with top notch sound make Cloverfield a real treat in an otherwise bland January when most movie goers don’t have much to look for. It all must have done something to most movie goers and many critics and movie aficionados are still trying to recap what they just saw.
| Visuals: | 9.2 |
| Sound: | 9.7 |
| Cast: | 8.2 |
| Plot: | 8.5 |
