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| Yes, I intentionally left the sticker that seals it closed on there. It looks so good! |
When a giant monster attacks Manhattan the night of Rob's going away party, the city is thrown into turmoil. Rob and his friends head out to rescue Rob's ex-girlfriend Beth who is stuck in her apartment overlooking Central Park from Rob's apartment somewhere near the Brooklyn Bridge. On their frantic journey, they do their best to avoid this mysterious creature, as well as the military who is trying to force them into evacuation. The military dubbed the event Operation: Cloverfield, and this film is just one piece of evidence in the file.
"Cloverfield" is a found footage film, and this is utilized unlike any other found footage film to date. Written by Drew Goddard ("Cabin in the Woods", the "Daredevil" series . . . I'm starting to think Drew actually knows how to write!), directed by Matt Reeves, and produced by J.J. Abrams ("The Force Awakens", "Star Trek", "Lost", and basically everything mainstream sci-fi in the last ten years or so), "Cloverfield was an intensely engaging film which spawned a recent sequel that may have been better than the original (seriously, compare the two on Rotten Tomatoes - both links are included in this review). We really wanted to review both together for you all, but we couldn't find it streaming anywhere. This is our last found footage film until we hit the Q's and R's (Where we get to watch both "Quarantine" and "Rec" one after another. For those not aware, "Quarantine" is the exact same movie as "Rec", only "Rec" was a Spanish movie that came out a year prior), but we do have many movies that are in the spirit of found footage, like "The Descent" (I know, I keep bringing this movie up, but it really is that good!).
What carries this movie is the intensity. The movie kicks in early, and there aren't many breaks from the action. Allow yourself to get absorbed and almost become Hud (the man behind the camera most of the movie [yes, they named him that specifically for the joke: HUD = Heads-Up Display]), and you'll be sucked in the way that I was. Very few answers are given about the monster, but we get a look at this group's personal lives before the night of the attack in the form of home video.
If you haven't yet seen it, don't look up pictures of the Cloverfield monster. I also highly recommend watching any special features that might come with your copy of the movie (obviously after watching the movie). When I finished it, I was craving more so badly that I watched all the special features on my DVD copy and I still wasn't satiated. Some answers are given in the special features as to the origin of Clover, but so much of it is also Abrams with his own head-cannon - like Landis when we watched "Chronicle" just the other day. The special features also discuss the marketing campaign and the secrecy around the movie, such as having well over a dozen code names they used during the filming process. By the way, "Cloverfield" had perhaps the most extensive and prodigious viral marketing campaign ever!
This is a movie I recommend everyone see. Don't watch it with a group, though. Watch it alone or with one other person. Let yourself get drawn in - watch it at night, shut off the lights, sit on the edge of your seat. This isn't a movie to watch to relax, so don't relax while you watch it. Become a part of it. Don't be angry at me if you don't like it. There's a 50/50 chance of you loving/hating it. When you're done with it, go watch the sequel even if you didn't enjoy the first. The sequel isn't a direct sequel, but it takes place in the same world, so to speak. "10 Cloverfield Lane" is not a giant monster movie as much as a psychological thriller starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead (who I have made it very clear I am in love with) and John Goodman. See them both! Just do it!
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