A Masterpiece of Monster Movie Magic

Rating: 10/10 (26 November 2008)

Make no mistake, Cloverfield is an animated film. The majority of what we see is CGI, a gimmick that has in recent years dominated a medium rather than enhance it. Instead of the smooth almost creamy give away aspect of computer generated images, Cloverfield uses the technology brilliantly and the special effects it's artists create are mind boggling. Explosions look totally real. Cityscapes are dizzying in their accuracy. J.J. Abrams and director Matt Reeves set out to make a distinctly American monster movie and where else to do that but New York City? Our minds are still fresh from the memories of 9/11 and Abrams taps into this without insulting or exploiting the tragedy. The fact that the thing comes from the South of Manhattan is not a coincidence. The beginning of the film is a party of exuberant youth, a MTV reality show of 20 somethings bidding farewell to a friend who is (again, not coincidentally) relocating to Japan, home of that "other" monster who's never mentioned. Why mention "him"? We have a big ol' baddie of our own now. Once the crisis begins, complete with an iconic symbol of collective America being destroyed and literally thrown in our faces, it's everyone for themselves. Strangely, the city empties out too quickly, the evacuation immediate. This was one of the issues that nagged at me through most of the film. At one point our tiny little band of survivors venture into the subway. The vast series of tunnels and stations are totally abandoned when logistics would tell you thousands of people would have taken refuge there. There aren't even trains to hamper their approximately 60 block progress. Above ground there are no traffic jams, no throngs of panicked citizens screaming from the windows of buildings. There's also some iffy geography going on. Big Ugly seems to have a fondness for Midtown, hanging around it for hours. Placing it in convenient places for action makes the viewer wonder if there are more than one. Our band of heroes travel very long distances in a very short period of time and you almost get the feeling the monster is after THEM. The military could use a little target practice in this, buildings get hit more than the target. But I forgave all this, despite the problems, this is thrilling stuff. As if a big gray ugly thing wasn't bad enough, it sheds some of the creepiest nastiest little critters we've ever seen like ticks off of a dog. This was a brilliant idea, it would be pretty easy to get away from a big lumbering slow monster, but these things, they're right there, they move fast and they BITE. The biggest shock of the film happens suddenly and pretty much off screen. I guess that explains where so many people have gone, but you would expect streets awash with gore (which, by the way, there's amazingly little of). I'm always fascinated by actors who's performance depends on their ability to react to nothing. Here it's realistic and terrifying. The military aspect, usually depicted as willing to coldly sacrifice anyone and anything is given a nice humanity. This military cares and tries it's best. It has very little choice and we understand. The creators of the monster have stated that they chose to think of "it" as a baby, scared and threatened. This is the irony, no military is going to try to soothe and calm such a thing. The shaky camera, used to death lately is acceptable because it's the way it would be although the batteries must be state of the art. The film leaves very few questions answered. What is this creature? Why is it here? It doesn't really matter. This thing could be any number of threats. The filmmakers have chosen to spin our paranoia as a huge, unstoppable monster and it works. Japan's got nothing on us, in your face Godzilla. Usually there would be a huge marketing blitz for a monster movie, but kids aren't going to be playing with this ugly thing as toys hidden in McDonald's meals, no model moving crabby parrot monstrosities. The harsh aspects of these creatures prevents this. This is not a happy film, but what could be happy about it? Nonetheless, it's entertainment at it's best. I will never pooh pooh CGI again.