Cloverfield tries to be big, but falls short of the mark

Rating: 4/10 (28 June 2008)

I hated Cloverfield.
Maybe I've watched too many excellent films, but this film has a great concept, but poorly executed. I didn't care about the characters, none of them were even likable. At the party these guys fall out over a girl sleeping with this guy. Somehow this storyline smears the rest of the film like a dirty rag. I guess this is more important than helping the citizens leaving the city with their lives.
Out of all the people in the city we follow a bunch of random guys who have their party ruined by various explosions in the city. Then we learn the city is under attack. What is special about the guys we're following? They are just ordinary twenty-somethings getting drunk and talking about who had sex with who. Would picturing it from the view of a hot dog salesman be any worse? I just didn't care about the characters or their Cannibal Holocaust-inspired amateur movies. Why not follow a small family fighting for survival? Why do we need to care about some heartbroken guy? One of the things which is both good and bad is that there is very little focus on the monster. And by that I mean, you will only see the monster once or twice in full view, the rest is obscured by the huge skyscrapers of the city. I like the fact the monster is barely seen. But they could have also added some suggestions as to where the monster came from. Space? Under the ocean? All we know it as is a monster. No more elaboration or subject to think about.
The movie really is no more intelligent than Godzilla. Cloverfield yearns to be something new and exciting, and I was disappointed with the full package.
Cloverfield is a cross between World Trade Center and Blair Witch. But it is an instantly forgettable movie which proves once again that Hollywood and hype will bring in money.