J.J. Abrams does the monster mash

Rating: 9/10 (21 February 2008)

There have been a lot of questions hovering over this movie ever since the first title-free teaser trailer appeared in cinemas last summer. What's it going to be called? What's the monster? Is it a reinvigorated version of the Godzilla franchise? Just what the hell is Cloverfield anyway? You have to hand it to J.J. Abrams really, he knows how to tantalise the Internet like no other, but all that aside there is still one question that was never properly addressed: will the casual film-goer get as much out of it as the obsessive cinema fan who has been following the hype since day one? The answer is a resounding yes as Cloverfield is unlike any film you're likely to have seen since the late nineties when three documentary students went in search of the Blair Witch and promptly disappeared. It's also a pulse-pounding ride through a devastated cityscape as seen through the eyes of the principal cast and while the introduction is a tad slow, once things kick off, they don't let up until the finale.
Shot entirely on a camcorder that is passed around a small group of characters, Cloverfield follows the same 'found footage' scenario of The Blair Witch. This is no low budget amateur film though, this is a big money depiction of a single terrifying night when New York city comes under attack from an unstoppable unknown creature and it's smaller, but equally vicious offspring. So far so very Godzilla, but by filming the entire thing with a hand held, Abrams takes the audience right down into the thick of it. This may be a big budget production with a preposterously good-looking cast, but it still feels like a small and personal film. When they run, we run with them. When they hide, we hide with them and on a level that no other film has ever achieved. Furthermore, there isn't a disaster movie-stereotype to be had, each of them is a genuine human being and their fear, confusion and desperation is only too real in this post-9/11 world.
Then there's the monster itself. To put paid to any still-lingering rumours, no it isn't Cthulu or any other theory you might have, it's an entirely new creation. The initial glimpses of a hind leg as it darts behind a skyscraper can only tantalise so far but when fully revealed, it's truly terrifying. Cynics may roll their eyes at the idea of a monster-movie nowadays but this is no fifties throwback, it's a wholly modern fear that carves a swathe of indiscriminate destruction through Manhattan and resists all attempts to destroy it. Plus, when it opens it's mouth and screams, you can almost feel your blood running cold.
Admittedly, not everyone is going to like this film. Given that the entire premise centres on a frantic battle to live through one apocalyptic night, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Yes, you do see the monster, but you never find out what it is and are left with nothing but theories. Neither do you ever get to see the morning after and discover what has become of the world in the wake of its rampage which is bound to frustrate a few folks. However, if you're willing to accept that not every thing will be neatly categorised then the somewhat abrupt ending might be a lot easier to tolerate. I for one thought it was an incredibly fitting way to end the movie, but walking out the cinema there was more than one voice complaining.
Cloverfield then is a film that captures the mood of the times in a disturbingly accurate way. We might not have giant monsters crawling out of the sea to decimate the landscape, but if they did it's hard not to see lines of people gathering with camera-phones at the ready recording a snapshot of the destruction to post on youtube. Abrams has pulled off a remarkable feat with Cloverfield; he has not only made the monster-movie fresh, exciting and action packed again, but he's also made it relevant for the first time since the first Godzilla movie riffed on Japan's post-nuclear anxiety. Given that the last time he teased us with a mystery monster it turned out to be a little cloud of black smoke, it's all the more remarkable.