Has a lot of potential, but does not quite make it through.

Rating: 7/10 (4 July 2008)

I had not heard that much about Cloverfield when I first saw a trailer on the internet, but it did look good. The idea of narrating a story through the lens of a camera had been seen before, but the idea of making a disaster movie this way still appealed to me, though I was not expecting much, but still hoped to get that wow effect which is very much in demand these days. The movie and the ideas behind it really had potential and succeeds at some points to capture and engage the audience because you feel like you are in the middle of the crisis. Unfortunately some issues relating to physics etc. is able to spoil the movie if one thinks very logically. The movie has for instance been criticized for lacking realistic physics relating to the cameraman. A point which can also be seen as a let down for the audience and more or less destroying the reality factor, is the quality of the video, which is quite good. This is of course to make the movie as good in quality as any other cinematic movies, but some might still think that this is a flaw and makes the movie lose a bit of its supposed atmosphere. At points the animation of the monsters look a bit misplaced and it is clear that they are animated creatures. It is hard to criticize this because the perception of the human is much harder to convince in this age of technology than ever before, so it is difficult to make animated characters that look genuine, especially the fictional ones. There is no musical score, obviously, but the sound effects are very good and when you sit in the cinema while gun bullets hiss and military tanks works it way through the streets, the sound really makes it all come to life. Again the sound is in a bit of an over quality state for a normal handy-cam, but it does not spoil the film too much. The acting part is overall okay, but not perfect. They are able to make the movie experience endurable, but again, they do not add up to the wow factor that they could have.
To sum up Cloverfield is a justifiable movie and easy to watch as the story is not that complex. It also tries to show the audience the innermost urges and instincts that follow with trying to survive and it both delivers and fails at doing so. The idea of narrating the story through the lens of a camera has got some real potential, but the top of the peak has not yet been reached. It is all a matter of time before a big breakthrough is made and meanwhile one must just wait and see. See through the lens of progression.