First Camera Perspective

Rating: 6/10 (2 February 2008)

Unless there was a lot of clover in the fields of Central Park where some of the story of Cloverfield takes place, I'm not sure of the significance of the title here.
Director Matt Reeves had the interesting idea of filming this movie in the first camera perspective. The film is the recorded viewpoint of a video camera and whomever is holding it at the time. Just about every one of those Fifties Science Fiction films takes it from the viewpoint of the people who will eventually slay the monster or defeat the aliens, whatever. You see masses of folks running in panic from whatever the threat is.
What we've got in Cloverfield is a group of ordinary 20 somethings having a party. When some kind of alien invasion hits New York City. Then the group of them take off in understandable panic in search of safety. The film is about that quest for safety.
No name players of any kind are used here and to be sure that does give the audience a good identification. They're not a terribly interesting bunch though, I'm not sure if I really cared whether they made it or not.
Cloverfield is an interesting, but not terribly entertaining science fiction film.