What’s that coming over the hill, is it a monster? (Cloverfield thoughts)
Nov 23rd, 2008 by Los Havros
It sure is, Bob- one heck of a monster.
Sorry to be so abstract, but these are just some thoughts of mine on Cloverfield. For some reason I hadn’t gone to the cinema to see this, it happens. I don’t neccessarily go to see every film out there, although I admit I do try. Heck- even though I know it’s supposed to be decent, I haven’t even seen Quantum of Solace yet!
Anyhow, when walking around HMV one fine day (it was probably raining to be honest), I felt compelled to pick up Cloverfield on DVD and buy it. I’d heard mixed reviews: some thought it was the second coming, whereas others thought it was generic and sub-par. I thought I’d give it a go anyway.
To be quite honest I was initially totally shocked with the opening. It felt suffocating, being restricted to one solitary camera- a shaky one at that (hand-held camcorder). I was also thinking ‘this sucks’ right from the beginning, and right the way through the party- watching and listening to some kind of mindless drivel from all of the guests and especially the guy holding the camcorder. What a tool.
Yes, very boring right up until the point where… something happens. From this point onwards in the film, and right until the bitter end- the whole camcorder perspective makes perfect sense. There’s a point in the film which reminds me of some of the finest moments of Halo and Starship Troopers. With a first-person viewpoint you are totally immersed in the film, and the film as a whole benefits enormously for it.
Again, I’m not going to go into too much detail here with regards to spoilers, but there’s a scene near the end that could have been done so much better. I’ve seen more emotive stuff like this on a Stargate SG-1 episode called ‘Heroes‘.
So, to kind-of conclude: Cloverfield is on the whole, and excellent film, but be prepared for a totally different viewpoint. I’m always interested in different cinematic styles and experiences (I found the film ‘Hero’ to be particularly good) but there absolutely must be a great story to back it up. And Cloverfield has just that, the story of a group of ordinary people trying to survive the carnage of a monster in New york City. Epic.
Anyone reading this seen Cloverfield? Thoughs? Agree? Disagree? Agree to disagree? Beg to differ?
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