An Experiment In Film-making Indeed.

Rating: 8/10 (20 January 2008)

Rob is about to go away to Japan for a new job, so his friends decide to throw him a good-bye party. The party is quickly disturbed by an earthquake, which is later discovered to be from a giant unknown creature terrorizing the city of New York.
To describe this film would be saying what everyone has been saying since its release. Cloverfield is Godzilla meets The Blair Witch Project. This is not a bad thing; to negatives make a positive remember? If it weren't for films like Blair Witch we wouldn't have Cloverfield, then again if it weren't for films like Cannibal Holocaust, we wouldn't have films like Blair Witch. What Cloverfield does is take this idea and spin it on its head. Cloverfield is an experiment in film-making and it is quite successful.
Just like Blair Witch the film starts off with a message that this footage was found and we are about to watch this uncut material. For the first 20 or so minutes we get character introductions, these are the people who will be seeing the destruction through; these are the eyes and ears. We don't get much characterization, but enough to know who's who in the grand scheme of things. We see a romantic sub-plot that will no doubt become more important as the film goes on; we meet our cameraman, a sarcastic guy who doesn't have the guts to talk to this one girl, this one girl who is only there to meet up with her other friends later. We also see the main characters brother and girlfriend, but we never get to really know these people. Which is fine, we only get a glimpse into their lives because it's all about the destruction right?
The destruction itself is very well done. This is where all the money went. No high tech cameras, just special effects for destruction for New York. Every bit of it was realistic. I was scared this was going to be another monster running around New York bit that Godzilla pulled on us, and yes while it is that, the film is much more. Not once did I ever believe anything in Godzilla, here I was entertain and engaged. I felt like I was actually watching real footage. The unknown actors were a good choice, it adds to the "found footage" feel.
The monster itself is cool looking as well. You never get a full view of it until the very end, but it's the bits and pieces of it that make it scary. Reeves builds up great tension as the monster is roaming the city and we see the destruction from a distance, yet we still have fear that it could kill us.
In addition to the giant creature, there are little ones. Apparently they are parasites. They seem like giant spider-crabs to me and they are quite scary. I'm glad that Abrams and crew decided to go with something original and not re-tell Godzilla. This was a brilliant choice and helped the marketing of the film immensely. The sound is sharp and loud. Specifically when the army blasts away at the creature, it makes the viewer feel like they are there.
I never once felt sick with the camcorder shaking around everywhere, but others in the theatre were. They were also disappointed with the ending, as half the theatre moaned and asked if that was it. I don't know what they were expecting, maybe some answers? Well you won't get any here. We saw the destruction through the eyes of this camera; we don't know what's going on. The characters don't know what's going on, they speculate that it could be alien, or government secret. There is no scientist with a white lab coat here explaining what the monster is or where it came from. If you're content with this then you'll love this film.
Unlike Snakes On A Plane, which I loved by the way, this film lives up to the hype expected by the fans. All the speculations can go to rest Cloverfield is here. Now let new speculations arise.