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'Cloverfield' makes goofy concept click

by Sean Flanders

Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: Movies
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New York City residents try to stay alive after a monster attacks the city in
New York City residents try to stay alive after a monster attacks the city in "Cloverfield."
The basic premise of "Cloverfield" is that it's like "Godzilla" remade in the style of "The Blair Witch Project." The whole film is presented as footage recovered from a video camera in the wake of a monster's attack on Manhattan. The monster itself and the scientists and soldiers fighting it are only glimpsed briefly, and most of the movie focuses on a group of average New Yorkers just trying to stay alive as the city's destroyed around them.

The "recovered footage" angle is interesting, but no matter how much the camera shakes, it never really feels as though this is something regular people with a video camera would actually catch on tape. Nothing's ever out of focus, there are about 10 times more witty remarks than any normal group of people could produce in a single day, and the only actor who's not "Hollywood pretty" is the one who spends 90% of the movie behind the camera.

While "Cloverfield" never really succeeds at achieving realism, however, it does still do a good job of making a giant monster attacking New York a genuinely creepy and frightening experience. The filmmakers have a clear eye for designing unique and disturbing images of destruction; the decapitated Statue of Liberty from the trailer is only one of many. They also keep almost all the characters likable and interesting, enough so that people can actually care when it looks like they're about to be eaten alive.

The best way to sum up "Cloverfield" would be to say that it's the "Alien" of giant monster movies: it takes a concept that's usually a little goofy and driven by special effects, and turns it into a very dark, frightening movie with an "anyone can die" sort of attitude. An action-packed blockbuster it ain't, but as a suspense-thriller set to the background of a monster attack, it's a pretty darn good movie.


THE GRADE: B
'Cloverfield' is a cross between 'Godzilla' and 'The Blair Witch Project.'


Sean Flanders is a Reporter staff writer
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