Cloverfield, America’s Monster

Starring: Lizzy Caplan, T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Jessica Lucas Director: Matt Reeves Release Date: 01-18-08
U.S. Box Office: $64,294,000 |

After months of cryptic trailers and postmodern stealth hype, “Cloverfield” turns out to be almost comforting in its simplicity. It’s a short, efficient, terrifying monster movie, no more and no less. It’s also to New York City and the American psyche what “Godzilla” was to Tokyo: a cinematic fantasy response to unimaginable events. You get scared, you go home, you laugh it off. The real world should play so nice.

The math is preposterously easy, actually: “Cloverfield” equals “Godzilla” divided by “The Blair Witch Project.” (And if you want to know nothing more before buying a ticket, stop reading right now.) Told solely from the point of view of one digital video camera wielded by one young guy named Hud (T.J. Miller), the film records scenes from a seven-hour attack on Manhattan by a Giant Thing. It’s the first cellphone-ready action flick.

We aren’t told where the Giant Thing came from or why it’s so mad. Like any proper peep show, the filmmakers (the real filmmakers, I mean) keep us from getting a good look at it, or its little friends, until near the end. At first, it’s just glimpsed far down the urban canyons, tossing buildings asunder and using the Statue of Liberty’s head as a bowling ball. It is Disaster, literalized.

Overall a great movie if you can used to the shaky annoying handheld camera POV that is shown through the ENTIRE film.  If there are any complaints about this movie, this seems to be the one everyone seems to have an issue with. You can be certain since this movie made insane money , and pretty soon there will be 2 or 3 more installments of this movie. Lets hope the get it ALL right next time.