Cloverfield - not your average monster movie

Rating: 9/10 (16 February 2008)

"Cloverfield" features a gigantic monster that terrorises New York, and the military seem powerless to prevent it rampaging through the streets. If this seems a familiar plot, then it is - it is a basic horror/fantasy theme that has featured in "King Kong", "Godzilla", "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms", and no doubt countless other productions.
However, a look at the film will show that this takes a different stance: with the use of the hand-held camera throughout, this is, as far as I know, the first to show what it would actually be like to be caught up in an attack by such a creature. Most monster films have a buildup that shows the monster beforehand (ie Kong in his natural habitat before his capture and arrival in NYC, or the creation of the various dinosaurs in "Jurassic Park"). As frightening as these films are, we are at least prepared for what we are going to see: we can find some comfort in knowing what these monsters are, and we are not exactly surprised when they go on the rampage. "Cloverfield" takes a different stance. We are watching what seems a rather tedious party, when we hear noises - are they explosions? Fireworks? Gunfire? We don't know and are as puzzled as the actors themselves. We feel unnerved, and are glad to have our curiosity at least partly satisfied when someone turns on the TV (our source of immediate information) and find the news that a tanker has gone down in NY harbour. At least we now know what has happened .... or do we? When the head of the Statue of Liberty lands in the street, then we realise that this is something far worse than an accident . We are as helpless as the partygoers: what to do? Stay in the apartment or get out? Eventually, there is the sighting of something so awful, we cannot describe it. Our instinct is to flee to a safe place, of course, but this is not your normal emergency. There is the obvious panic and hysteria, and sheer inability to comprehend what is happening, and it is the fear of not knowing what to do, of being in a totally alien world, that scares us, for we the audience, are right there with those involved.
"Cloverfield" has been criticised by some critics for not giving enough definition to the leading characters, yet I do not feel this is entirely fair. We do care about them - after all, if they feel safe, we feel safe. It's also important to remember that they are characters following a very basic human need: that of keeping themselves alive at all costs. You cannot expect wisecracks or eloquent speeches on the future of mankind in a situation like this - your focus will be on finding that elusive place of safety.
Many have also made reference to the film and its parallels with 9/11 - the unknown enemy that threatens us. This is certainly a valid point, and yet I feel that the film would still have succeeded in its aims even without that analogy. "Cloverfield" shows us the human race in danger from the unknown, be it flying saucers from the 1950's, or the Spanish flu epidemic of the 1910's, or the atom bombs of the Cold War. There is always something out there to scare us and it is up to us to confront it.