A Monster Movie About Human Bonds Very Well Done

Rating: 8/10 (26 January 2008)

What makes life meaningful? As human beings, what kinds of experiences contribute to an existence with purpose and significance? These are the kinds of questions that watching "Cloverfield" made me ponder.
It's a movie about a monster, but the monster is just the "catalyst", the "pressure", the "mover" that really tells a story about the bonds between people and those bonds being tested under great duress.
One of my fellow moviegoers told me he read some people left the theater crying after seeing the movie. I can believe it. People who knew what it was like to have truly strong bonds formed with other people. People who knew what real friendship was. People who knew what love was. People who long deeply for these things in their own lives (I would be one of them, though I did not cry, though I would have been OK with doing so. I have before. Crying feels...good.)
The movie made me think about the separation and distance we all feel between us and how powerful experiences like the one in "Cloverfield" force us together. I think we are seriously lacking these kinds of experiences in our society, the kind that prompt us to drop our barriers and connect with one another because a potent situation demands it. Now, the city we live in being attacked by a giant monster is highly unlikely (still could happen though...who knows what lies buried in the Earth's depths...), but there are plenty of powerful experiences we could make a regular part of the time we spend alive as humans. Any experience which demands that people rely on one another would do.
The movie makes me realize, keenly, I need these kinds of experiences in my life. So, was it a good movie? It made me think these kinds of deep thoughts, so I'd say : yeagh.
Oh, and "Marlena" was a great character. She represents a new kind of personality type emerging in our society. Outwardly attractive in an unconventional way with a disconcerting reservation on the surface covering a noble soul within. Her heroism struck a resonant chord in my heart. "Hudd", in his duh-ish simplicity, was attracted to a special girl. I liked that.