Innovative and intelligent direction lifts Cloverfield

Rating: 8/10 (24 February 2008)

Rarely have I seen a movie that has divided opinion as much as Cloverfield. I can't claim to have read all 1500 posts on this thread but those I have read have ranged from "brilliant" to "terrible". There seems to be little middle ground, you either love it or hate it. I have to say that I belong to the former group having found it extraordinarily innovative and exciting.
As the movie opened later here, I only got to see it last week. I had a vague idea of what it was about and knew about the hand held camera work and went into it hoping that it was not going to be as annoying as Blair Witch. I needn't have worried. After a few minutes the camera work stopped being obtrusive and just became another element in the whole exciting movie experience. Some have claimed that it caused motion sickness or was distracting. Well I can't say I found that to be the case. For me the hand held camera made me feel like I was right there in the middle of the action, being just as disorientated and on edge as the people on the screen. After a while I forgot that the movie was shot differently to the norm as I was so immersed in the chaos and terror of what was happening.
I loved the fact that there was no exposition or unnecessary explanation. Everything was immediate and surprising. It was also good to see a relatively unknown cast performing with skill. Its not easy to make things appear spontaneous and unrehearsed and they did this brilliantly, even down to making Hud, the cameraman, at times sympathetic and at times extremely annoying. At no time were we distracted by having a big star strutting around saving the day. It gave you the feeling that anyone could be killed at any time, no one was safe.
The direction was clever throughout, not least in keeping the monster hidden until almost the end. All we see are glimpses of a leg here, a tail there, a mouth... It works to heighten the dread. What you can't see is often more terrifying than whats in front of your face. The tunnel scene was nail bitingly scary, knowing that they were being followed by something in the dark, (think "Alien" in the ventilation ducts). It was also a pleasant surprise to not have a happy ending. Here in Europe there is often a lot of criticism doled out to American movies for frequently treating their audiences as if they are stupid. That is to say that everything has to be explained and then neatly wrapped up at the end with invariably a happy ending tacked on, no matter how incongruous that may be. It is great when the director of a blockbuster like this, bucks the trend and leaves us hanging. He treats us as intelligent people who are capable of making up our own minds. Kudos to Mr Abrams.