Cloverfield [2007]

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk

One of the first things a viewer notices about Cloverfield is that it doesn't play by ordinary storytelling rules, making this intriguing horror film as much a novelty as an event. Told from the vertiginous point-of-view of a camcorder-wielding group of friends, Cloverfield begins like a television soap opera about young Manhattanites coping with changes in their personal lives. Rob (Michael Stahl-David) is leaving New York to take an executive job at a company in Japan. At his goodbye party in a crowded loft, Rob’s brother Jason (Mike Vogel) hands a camcorder to best friend Hud (T.J. Miller), who proceeds to tape the proceedings over old footage of Rob’s ex-girlfriend, Beth (Odette Yustman)--images shot during happy times in their ex-relationship. Naturally, Beth shows up at the party with a new beau, bumming Rob out completely. Just before one's eyes glaze over from all this heartbreaking stuff (captured by Hud, who's something of a doofus, in laughably shaky camerawork), the unexpected happens: New York is suddenly under attack from a Godzilla-like monster stomping through midtown and destroying everything and everybody in sight. Rob and company hit the streets, but rather than run with other evacuees, they head toward the center of the storm so that Rob can rescue an injured Beth. There are casualties along the way, but the journey into fear is fascinating and immediate if emotionally remote--a consequence of seeing these proceedings through the singular, subjective perspective of a camcorder and of a story that intentionally leaves major questions unanswered: Who or what is this monster? Where did it come from? The lack of a backstory, and spare views of the marauding creature, are clever ways by producer J.J. Abrams and director Matt Reeves to keep an audience focused exclusively on what’s on the screen. But it also makes Cloverfield curiously uninvolving. Ultimately, Cloverfield, with its spectacular effects brilliantly woven into a home-video look, is a celebration of infinite possibilities in this age of accessible, digital media. -Tom Keogh

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Customer reviews

review by: hamble date: 2008-11-30 rating:
great entertainment
imho, it's the things that other people hated about this film that made me love it:

the acting was believable. i think that i would make a whimpering noise if i suddenly found myself on the ground with a huge monster standing above me.

the dialogue was believable. in real life people generally don't soliloquy like shakespeare, or describe ever innermost emotion, or philosophise or have great one-liners every minute - they usually just talk rubbish, like they do in this film.

the script was believable. it was what you could reasonably expect to happen if a half-kilometer high monster invaded new york.

there IS humour in the film, if you aren't po-faced.

the direction was tight. it moved forward. it did what it said on the tin, and on the tin it said "monster movie". watching it i felt tense.

there was no swearing in the film. you could watch it with your granny.

in short, a greatly entertaining film.

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review by: date: 2008-11-29 rating:
Bad..........very bad
The camera work was annoying - do we really need to feel like we are on a boat in the pacific during a storm?

However possibly the biggest problem was that I didn't like any of the characters and didn't care if they lived or died. As a result I didn't want to follow the plot and couldn't wait for the end.

After all the hype I was so disappointed, not what I expected from Mr JJ Abrahams!

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review by: Kanja date: 2008-11-28 rating:
Absolutely brilliant
I have been a follower of horror for over 26 years and have seen countless horror movies. From the very best to the very worst. Cloverfield rates amongst my very best. Why...? Because it brings something different to the horror genre. The last two - three years have been like a new dawn for horror. Horror I believe is being re-invented. The age old blood and guts with a poor story line is not as prevalant as before. Horror is now advertising itself to the thinking man/woman. This is most definately where Cloverfield comes in. It provides a good setting, sets the tone and then BANG your in, the horror begins. The film runs at a good pace , is consistent and the camera angles are superb. It takes the blair witch cinematography and puts it on a whole new level. You find yourself twisting your neck angling your body as the camera moves with the pace of the charachters it follows. There are shocks that happen which you just don't see coming, leaving you in anxious anticipation of more to follow. What a film!!!.
Trust me, you'll want to put this in your horror collection.

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review by: Vice Fire date: 2008-11-27 rating:
Original idea, great film
When I saw this in the cinema, I was blown away by it. You were left with more questions after the film than at the start, which you'd imagine would be annoying, but there was something that I loved about that. The camcorder, of course, made this film most effective. They describe it as 'Godzilla meets Blair Witch', and I can safely say that if you like both of those two films, you'll love this one. The fact that it had a cast list that you wouldn't have heard of helped it to be successful; the idea of this film was to get a first-person view of normal civilians reacting to a crisis, so it would be strange to feature Tom Cruise and George Clooney. You can see that the director has covered every corner to squeeze as much as possible out of this film to make it realistic (apart from the giant monster terrorising New York city).

If I was rating this film straight after exiting the cinema, I would have given it a hands-down 5 stars. The one thing that is holding me back now that I own it, is the fact that it is not nearly as entertaining on the second viewing as it is on the first. The most thrilling element of Cloverfield is that you are watching it without knowing much, so you don't know what's gonna happen next. It's part of the novelty of using a camcorder, that you have no idea what is going to suddenly appear in front of the camera. I think that a film should be thrilling and entertaining every time you watch it for it to be a real classic.

Apart from that, though, a very clever and well made film.


review by: Aviation History Worm date: 2008-11-23 rating:
Initially interesting - ultimately irritating
I loved the premise - the discovery of an amateur tape covering a major event. I bought into that and sat back to watch previously unseen footage of a monster attacking New York (well, we've all seen it before in some guise!)

I didn't mind the relatively slow build-up as it set the scene for what was obviously going to be an "everyday hero rescues gal" plot, and when the monster arrived (via sound effects and even more shaking of the camera) the tension switched in nicely.

It was nice to just see glimpses of the "big beastie" as it wandered around shouldering buildings to the ground and generally causing a bit of a nuisance, as it left something to the imagination. Very reminiscent of the classic horror movies where you just saw a shadow or a silhouette of the monster. It left the viewer wondering "what is it?" rather than the usual "is that it!" which is often the case with CGI monsters. Curiosity was then satisfied right at the end with a nice shot of the beastie having a bit of a snack!

Rather cleverly, the premise of the film meant that the quality of the acting didn't really matter, assuming you'd bought into the home-movie idea.

So, all in all, very well done, different from the usual rampaging monster stuff, and quite gripping ... with a couple of exceptions!

The wobbly camera and the constant reminders that it was amateur footage became a bit tiresome after a while, but that paled into insignificance when compared to the unbelievably irritating dialogue from the brainless wonder behind the camera! Three quarters of the way through, I wondered if the film had been a victim of the Hollywood screenwriters' strike as the muppet cameraman simply reverted to saying "Oh my God! Oh my God! What's happening? Oh my God! Oh my God!" over and over and over again whenever there was the slightest pause in the action. This particular reviewer let out a silent cheer when the big beastie (who was clearly equally irritated!) shut the cameraman up once and for all! Ah, peace at last ... and then the film ended within a couple of minutes!

Overall, worth a look-see if you get the chance as it's different enough to be interesting ... but prepare yourself to be rooting for the monster by the end!

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