Somewhere Godzilla is Laughing.......

Rating: 1/10 (21 January 2008)

We heard about Cloverfield for what seemed like forever, yet the final product was only an hour and thirteen minutes. When that consists of one of the films good points, there is a problem.
Cloverfield is the story of a monster attack shown from the point of view of a solitary and constantly bobbing video cam recovered by the military at some point later in time.
The movie begins in Manhattan with the groundwork being laid for a surprise going away party for the film's human star, Rob Hawkins (Michael-Stahl David) as he sets off for a job Japan. It is here that Cloverfield already begins its descent as the film attempts to flesh out the dim-witted, vapid, cast of twenty somethings that as so often is the case in horror films, have you rooting for the evil doer.
By the time the monster begins his assault on Manhattan, so much time has passed already, you'll wonder if there is any left for a monster even the size of a skyscraper to do enough damage to be noticed before the film ends? Fortunately, there is as the monster gets right to work eating people, destroying buildings and decapitating the Statue of Liberty, all caught now and then in shadowy and bumpy glimpses by the movies true antagonist, the operator of the hand held camera.
(It should be noted that 'Cloverfield' was a clear attempt at allegory for the 9/11 attacks, as several scenes are seemingly duplicated move by move from the images from that horrible day.) As the monster plays hide and seek behind buildings, evading a hapless looking army of soldiers in the streets carrying rocket launchers, it turns out the mystery invader has a surprise. Scores of tiny arachnid-like creatures are falling off the body of the larger, attacking people in places not easily reached by the monolithic marauder. We learn, barely, that the smaller creature bites cause a delayed, yet gruesome result for their victims.
Unfortunately for us, instead of using this to further drive home point how dire the circumstances are, more time is spent attempting to make us care for the remaining contingent of yuppies by using goofy quips and emotion expressed with marshmallow lightness. It is at this stage of the film, with an incredible fifteen minutes remaining that you'll realize you have yet to see the monster in full! The final fifteen minutes offer perhaps where the movie might have been better served beginning. A military helicopter escape over downtown Manhattan gives us the first look at our creature- a mix of mammal, insect and fish with subtle humanoid features- tearing his way through real estate as it is bombarded by a heavy duty air assault. The monster is frightening and original, leaving you to wonder why something so fresh was kept a secret all this time? After the inevitable failure of the strike, the helicopter is swatted down and crashes in Central Park. Amazingly, the camera has not fallen victim either to impact or the many muggers reputed to lurk within the park. Even more amazing is that out of the all the personnel on board, the three surviving are Rob, his love interest, Beth and the cameraman, Hud.
In the closing moments, Hud is killed by the monster, who had snuck up on him (yes, SNUCK UP on him). Rob and Beth make it safely inside the underpass of a park bridge, but sirens in the distance indicate that the military has reached their final option, to level NYC with nuclear weapons in hopes of destroying the previously indestructible creature and his band of ill-tempered associates.
The very fact that the camera was found to document In the final analysis, it's obvious the makers of 'Cloverfield' felt the film would be more believable if it was shot from the frenzied POV of an average Joe in the street. While the chaos and futility of the situation was captured to a reasonable degree, credibility should not have been the main issue here as the first rule of any monster movie is the monster is the star. In the end, we barely knew what he looked like, let alone what his origin or purpose was. While that may seem scarier to some, it seems lazy to me, especially when that time is allotted to a cast of already forgotten and never will bes.
Perhaps in the sequel, one of the smaller creatures can follow the larger around with a cam. That way, it's guaranteed a little more screen time.