Cloverfield: WOW!!!

When I first heard that Cloverfield was going to be about some creature that emerges from the ocean to terrorize lower Manhattan, I thought it was going to turn out to be just another cheesy monster movie.

Well, yes, it's true that it's a monster movie. But there ain't a damn thing that's cheesy about it.

First, some particulars. The film is relatively short. From the opening shots to the start of the closing credits, it's only an hour and fifteen minutes long. And while there's no musical score during the film itself, stay in your seat for the closing credits (which run about ten minutes). There's a truly fantastic orchestral piece called "Roar: The Cloverfield Overture" that rivals anything John Williams has ever come up with. So far there doesn't seem to be a download of it available anywhere, and there's no movie soundtrack, either.

(Update posted 4-23-08: I now have a clean version of Roar that I lifted from the DVD. However, I wasn't uploaded onto the site because it's over 1 meg in size. If you'd like it, email me and I will gladly send you the MP3 file.)

And what's the significance of the title Cloverfield? No explanation is ever given, except for a cryptic message at the very beginning. It states that the following video is from "case Designate 'Cloverfield' retrieved at incident site... Area formerly known as Central Park." That is the only mention of the name Cloverfield in the entire movie. However, if you've read some of the internet chatter over the last seven months, it turns out that director J.J. Abrams has offices on some street called "Cloverfield."

If you've seen some of the reviews, a lot is being made of the shaky camera work. However, it should be kept in mind that the entire film is in the form of an amateur video that was recorded over the course of one night. This also brings up an obvious comparison to The Blair Witch Project, a movie I've avoided specifically because of the constantly shaking picture. However, after seeing the sense of immediacy it provides in Cloverfield, I may go back and rent Blair Witch after all.

Personally, I'm not usually a fan of such handheld camera work. I tend to find it annoying and distracting. But in this case, it works wonderfully. In most films, you generally end up feeling like a spectator watching the action unfold. But with Cloverfield, that handheld camera puts you right in the middle of several very intense scenes that will have you barfing into your popcorn bucket.

At least that's what happened in my case. And I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to those who were sitting near me in the theater.

While it's never explained in what year the movie's events are taking place, the government's swift response to the crisis makes it obvious that President Bush has left office. Within the first hour or so, the military is on hand organizing the evacuation of the city. However, that comes to a grinding halt as the Brooklyn Bridge is destroyed with thousands of fleeing pedestrians on it.

That particular sequence does have one part that seems to be an error: The crowd on the bridge can see the headless remains of the Statue of Liberty maybe a mile or so away. To the best of my knowledge, however, that's not possible. The bridge is on one side of Manhattan while Liberty Island is on the opposite.

Aside from that apparent lapse, the movie is quite realistic. One of the most authentic looking scenes occurs when Lady Liberty's comes hurtling out of the sky and rolls to a stop in the middle of the street. A crowd quickly gathers, and people start pulling out their cellphones to snap pictures of it. I had to laugh.

As far as the creature itself is concerned, you only see some quick shots of its legs for most of the movie. Finally, towards the end, you finally do get to see the critter up close and personal in a scene that ends badly for the guy who's been carrying the camera. There are also some encounters with some smaller spider-like creatures that apparently "shed" themselves from the larger animal.

And if you're a Star Trek fan, there's a brief trailer for the next movie. That's not surprising, since Abrams is directing it as well. There's not a whole lot to it, however; mostly the trailer consists of some exterior shot of the Enterprise under construction.

Bottom line: Cloverfield is definitely worth the price of admission, but bring your Dramamine.... And stay through the closing credits.

FOLLOW UP INFORMATION, POSTED 6:30 AM, 1/19/08

Some people may be upset by Cloverfield's rather abrupt ending. Again, remember that the movie consists of a video recovered from a disaster site. Consequently there's never any explanation as to the origins of the monster, or how it is eventually killed. As with the final episode of The Sopranos, don't expect a clean and tidy resolution to the story.

The tape that is used to "document" the creature's attack on Manhattan was originally used to record some stuff between one of the characters and his girlfriend (No, not THAT kind of stuff.... Unfortunately). Consequently, as the guy with the camera occasionally stops recording the attack, snippets of the original recording show up during the playback. Those peaceful and serene scenes of fun times provide a stark contrast to the terror unfolding on the rest of the tape.

At the very end of Cloverfield you see a few seconds of the couple's visit to Coney Island. According to some people, in the background you can see an unknown object fall out of the sky and hit the water. This would strongly suggest that the Cloverfield creature is extraterrestrial in origin. If true, that would also mean that Bill O'Reilly is right: Aliens are destroying America!!

Finally, here's the Bad Astronomy review of Cloverfield. Overall he liked the movie but does list several "nitpicks," mostly dealing with physics and science. On the other hand, the Bush administration has never paid any attention to science, so why should anyone else?