"Cloverfield" (2008) - Movie Review

Never have I felt the motion sickness from a film, even when many people complained about the jittery camera in “The Bourne Ultimatum”. It is good for one part as we feel the real intense of such a situation disaster/attacks. The bad part is, of course you feel sick. One thing haunted me and answered itself many moments is that, some one should freaking say to put the damn camera down and run for your life and it answered that there will not be a movie if that happened. Irritating but that’s the movie.

As by now every one would be aware that the film is shot in a style of home video, the video is handled obsessively by Hud (T.J. Miller) who cannot be more creepy and it all starts over the send off party for his friend Rob (Michael Stahl-David). It also has rehashes of a date which happened between Rob and Beth (Odetta Yustman) some days back. Attack happens and every one goes nuts, Rob wants to save his girl and obviously she is located in the deadly zone, an infestation of danger, yada yada yada, you get the picture.

If the style of making is eliminated, then it is one big Michael Bay movie. But director Matt Reeves does not take it to top. It is just that his tiny focus on the cheesy scene happens in every wrong moment and down goes the impressive scary and realistic shots in to the drain. When the film is about the style and the effects, it would have been better to let off any scenes of romance at all. With its itty bitty presence, it is at wrong place and wrong time. The scenes of shock are real especially the journey through tunnel is shot well thought. You feel the creepiness and the possibility of things jumping out in a dark place but Reeves pulls it off with such finesse for the material. The same goes for the helicopter scene near the end.

As said, it works on all those moments but the constant questioning of an annoying and determined “documenting” character with Michael Bay scenes eliminates the whole purpose of this execution. The concept of focusing on one group with no idea what is happening around them is a good premise. Chaos happens and when weird things are seen, survival is primary but the inquisitive curiosity drives the people mad too. They operate on this and build around it. When Rob decides to go back and rescue Beth which we have seen many times in all disaster movies, “Cloverfield” puts the viewers out there and think it through.

The special effects are simply superb. In today’s world of cinema, computer graphics are taken for granted. The designers work strenuously to bring the image out to live picture is now another process which people seem to expect and does not go awe about it. Graphics becomes a part more appropriate and assisting when it really find its place. It is not used as leverage but a necessary factor, unavoidable for a film like this. At that time, it becomes critical and in this film, it is amazing.

“Cloverfield” is one of those films where recommendation becomes a tough procedure. While independent decisions hang out there, this kind of movie lies in the same league of expectation, “300” generated. “300” of course turned out to be a very good film for that experience. Does this one succeed in that? It did for the way they intended to be told and the effect they expected to happen. There were at least three to four opportunities which could have been a better ending, yet they failed to wrap the show. As a very short movie of 84 minutes, near the end it kept going on and on and on. There are talks about a sequel with Reeves mentioning about there may be other group of people who would have taped the events too. If that happens, I would like that to have a guy who knows a better judgment in between saving his life and holding a camera to give a movie. How cool it would have been, if the camera navigates its way to different people and it becomes a collection of that documentation. When they decided to make an out of the box style film, why not throw away the regular sentimental Hollywood routine? In between motion sickness, unwanted romance and irritating Hud,“Cloverfield” gets on your nerves after a while.