Monday, February 23, 2009

Cloverfield - Not a new idea, but masterfully done!


When Cloverfield came out on video last year, I was excited to see it. This J.J. Abrams monster-thriller had been hyped up a great deal and the reviews were pretty good for what is a essentially a horror flick. Admittedly, it actually took me a couple nights to watch it and it’s quite short. It’s not because I didn’t like it, but rather, I think it was because I had a lot going on. Anyway, the point is that I didn’t really get a chance to take it all in.

So when last weekend, Julie and I decided to stay home and rent a movie, decided that I wanted to see it again. Julie had mentioned an interest in seeing the movie after I had rented and so it was an easy choice.

For those that don’t know, the movie is basically filmed entirely from the point of view of a guy with a video camera. And while the person shooting the film changes from the beginning, there are no multiple camera angles or neat camera tricks. What we see happen in the movie we see through the eyes of one of the characters. This isn’t the first time this type of filming has been done, but I think that it was one of the more effective portrayals because throughout the drama, action, and horror of the events, we get a fairly intimate picture of how a group of friends in New York, cope with what has been thrust into their lives on a single night.

And like any review of sorts that I do, I won’t go into the plot or give away any details, but I can say that the movie is both shocking and even rewarding. Rewarding in the sense that the whole story is told and no loose ends are left untied. The shocking part… well, you’ll have to watch it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you like movies made from the perspective of a hand held camera, then see this one but if the single viewpoint and shaky perspective drives you crazy, then give it a miss. As a movie it was ok but it would have been SO much better if it was not filmed the way it was. Just my 2c.

Anonymous said...

Loved this movie. But i think fans really need to get into the viral campaign to really enjoy it. I spoke to a few people who hated it just because there was no explanation regarding the monster. But the internet stuff explains it all pretty clearly.

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