Godzilla may be king of the monsters and that's cool and all, but do you know who could easily kick his lizard ass? Clover. Cloverfield is my favorite monster film of all time, as it provides an engaging story with an even more engaging type of storytelling. It may also be my favorite because it horrified me at a young age, leaving an unforgettable scar on my small brain, but regardless, it is an incredibly well-made film.
This movie is highly efficient in both terror and storytelling. This is mostly due to its absolute powerhouse trio of creators: Drew Goddard, the writer, J.J. Abrams, the producer, and Matt Reeves, the director. Each of their individual talents shone through very well and worked together flawlessly. Goddard's intense but unforgettable writing pairs great with Reeves' quick and stressful directing style. And of course, Abrams' science-fiction prowess rounds everything out to make this movie incredible. The plot in this film is a very simple one, rescuing an ex-girlfriend and fleeing the massive monster destroying the city. Even though the story was fairly simple, it was very effective for the quick runtime. The biggest draw-in for me, as well as everyone I know who has seen this film, is its fantastic use of the "found footage" style. It was so eerie, and while this film is not exactly a horror movie, more monster per se, it provided such a good narrative for the characters. The best character, in fact, was T.J. Miller's Hud. Hud was the source of the entire film's humor, both before and after Clover attacked New York. His dry comedy paired nicely with all of the dramatic action occurring throughout the attack. All of the other performances by the cast, which included Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, Michael-Stahl David, and Mike Vogel, were very mediocre. No one else brought as much life to their characters as Miller did.
Details are what make a film so intriguing and the focus on technical aspects in this movie was amazing. The terrifying design of Clover and his little squirmy, monster babies was great, even though the CGI from 2008 was not as refined as it could have been now (like the final shot of The Cloverfield Paradox, which was actually the best part of that entire movie). The cinematography, while shaky and unfocused, was utilized beautifully: especially in the most gruesome scenes of the movie. It was very clever how the director of photography, Michael Bonvillain, framed the shots so that the audience could not see the bloody mayhem of the monster that was happening, and instead had to rely on the audio to provide that terror. I'm also not sure if it was intended or not, but in the final shot of the movie on the ferris wheel, you can clearly see a large pod falling from the sky into the ocean, and this focus on detail in the foreshadowing makes this film so impressive.
The only minor issue I had with this film was the treatment of the female characters. While it is not obviously apparent and all of the characters are treated fairly story-wise, I feel that Caplan's, Lucas', and the other women could have had more agency. Throughout this movie, it is always the men who are deciding on what to do next and choosing what the group's priorities are. And whenever Clover is nearby or the group had a life-threatening experience, the women would seem to have panic attacks while the men just stoically stand their ground. As a man, I would be breaking down and freaking out in a scenario like this, and I do not believe it is fair for the writing to treat the females as if they are the only ones who come off as weak. We would all be crying like babies, let's be real.
Cloverfield is a quick, but impressive feat in found-footage filmmaking. J.J. Abrams has set up an amazing shared universe with this film, and while one sequel might be better than the other, this original still stands on its own as a fantastic monster movie.
My Rating: ★★★½
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