My Favourite Movies: Cloverfield



I don’t normally do hype. Whenever a film is basically advert bombed I avoid it – partially out of principle (I hate being manipulated) and partially out of the experience that hyped films are usually crap so need hyping.


I can’t exactly remember why I broke this rule to see Cloverfield (on my own I think) but I’m glad I did. Although for the first 10-15 minutes I thought it was going to be terrible. That was how long the opening bit lasted or seemed to last. Where the ‘Friends’ wanabees where saying goodbye to their friend going off to Japan for a new job and to escape from the love of his life. Of course, as you should know, all hell breaks loose from then on. Filmed on a handheld camera – a very sophisticated handheld camera complete with image intensification no less – one of the friends ‘records the moment’ when a giant alien creature rampages through the streets of New York with local National Guard units and other military units apparently helpless to stop it.


There are many things I liked about this movie. Not least of which was the way it got you to care about the people running around scared just trying to get through things. It’s definitely a post 9/11 film. Although it could have been made prior to the Twin Towers I doubt if it would have had the same visceral effect that it did – even on me sitting thousands of miles away from both incidents. The shaky camera and the incidents ‘stumbled upon’ by the excellent cast really brought you face to face with the storyline. After a mere 81 minutes in their company it was difficult not to start to care for them despite the fact that superficially they were not exactly nice people. They were actually your average yuppies, not sure about what they wanted or how to get it. They were 21st Century you and me. I think that was a huge selling point to me and what made the whole thing ‘real’. Like most good monster films we didn’t see all that much of the big guy – actually what little we did see of it was, in my opinion, too much – but the brief glimpses we got were suitably alien. I was impressed by the street battle the cast got caught up in. Of course I need to mention the sound track – or actually the rumbling base track to be more precise. Hiding in a subway station whilst battle raged above them was transmitted through the floor and through the seat of my pants by more base than I’d ever felt before. Again an important part of ‘making it real’. Of course we wanted to see the people we were following survive and get out of New York. Some were cut down, some seemed to escape and some might have survived (but probably didn’t). In some cases we just don’t know. That I do like in a movie – the brave ambiguous ending. While not exactly a great film this is a highly entertaining one, full of action, drama and a few surprises (actually shocks) thrown in for good measure. It’s a clever movie on several levels. It knows exactly what its doing and does it well. If you missed it because of the hype – like I almost did – take a deep breath and hire it. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.