Cloverfield: Midnight Showing

Rating: 8/10 (18 January 2008)

At one point in the movie, one character echoes the famous words from the original home-video horror flick The Blair Witch Project: "I'm so scared." Only in Cloverfield what they encounter is much more scary and life-threatening than a crazy lady running through the woods. Cloverfield is a 90 minute roller-coaster ride that will increase your adrenaline as much as it will increase your dire need for a vomit bag.
Rob is leaving for Japan for his career and a surprise party is thrown on his behalf. Hud takes up the responsibility of cameraman, whose purpose is to document the farewell testimonies. This provided an interesting way to introduce the characters and gave insight into their personalities and relationships. Telling a story through this style of filming could be pretty difficult, but Cloverfield actually pulls it off. You even grow fond of some of the characters in the process, which is especially important for a movie that depends on the survival of the characters. It also helps that the actors gave likable and pretty convincing performances.
The party is interrupted by a series of tremors, a short blackout, and a flurry of fireballs flying through the air. New York is under attack. From then on you are sucked into a crazy trip through the panic of the dismantled city as Hud decides to continue videotaping the events, knowing that the world will want to see what exactly happened that night in New York City.
Although the movie offers a great story of bravery and camaraderie, that's not what anyone cares about right? Everyone wants to know what "It" is. Trust me. "It" is something far more ugly and terrifying than a giant cuddly ape.
Going into the movie, you of course need to suspend a little disbelief. Aside from the monster itself, you also have to accept their ability to somehow escape certain situations; otherwise it would be a much shorter movie. If I were documenting the whole thing the video would probably last five minutes. To make up for it, little details are thrown in to maintain the atmosphere of authenticity, taking pictures of the head of a decapitated Statue of Liberty with a cell phone camera for example, or the looters who horde the electronics store amidst all the chaos.
The special effects are completely mind-blowing. The Toyota Tacoma and "Ratchet and Clank" commercials really did something special when they combined special effects with the home video feel. Cloverfield takes this concept to the maximum extreme and does an excellent job making the surreal as real as it can get.
The suspense will get to you. There are times that make you jump and times that make you cringe. The end will either leave you wanting more or begging for it to be over. No matter what the case, Cloverfield is an experience you will never forget. (Word of advice: DO NOT sit in the first five rows, especially in IMAX. Big mistake.)