Cloverfield Review by C-M

Cloverfield Movie Review by member C-M


This review will be written in two parts. The first is my feature review. The second part will be personal thoughts of the ending. Some people seemed to be put off by the ending. My hope is that my review will get you interested in seeing the movie with the knowledge that if you were left hanging, you can come back here and see my points to ponder which have lead me to love the entire movie. Beware that the second point will contain spoilers...and more than just spoilers...complete giveaways. But again, this is done to add to your overall enjoyment of the film.

PART 1 ----

The film mainly starts with a going away party. One of the important members of the group of friends is moving to Japan to accept a Vice President role with a company. All friends/acquaintances are present to wish Rob luck. The entire film is shot by handheld camera which was used to record all of Rob's testimonials wishing him luck in Japan.

Suddenly the world around them shudders and the news report gives some basic descriptions of what's going on during what they initially believe to be an earthquake. They all run to the roof to find out what they can see from up there. But the situation rapidly escalates and they realize that something very big and wrong is going on.

After having the head of the Statue of Liberty launched at them and the Empire State Building collapsing and covering the world around them in dust and disaster. At this point police and military forced try to usher civilians across the bridges and out of the city. After a call from Rob's love interest about her desperate situation Rob and his group of friends head back across the bridge to rescue her.

Now, as previously stated the film is shot entirely from the handheld camcorder carried by Rob's best friend throughout the entire adventure. This gives you some unprecedented first-hand experience that haven't been offered in any possibly similar film. You are right there. You feel that everything that happens to the characters is happening to you. The tense situations. The often humorous reaction by one of the friends in the group. And the following disasters.

The most impressive footage in my opinion would be when they're running through the streets with rockets whizzing closely overhead, smashing into buildings all around them with the creature destroying buildings just to their side. The special effects were amazing and the fact that everything was happening with a handheld camera being in the middle of the action instead of a third-person perspective where everything is happening in front of the camera's lens.

This was a harrowing, exciting adventure which had my adrenaline going. And I swear that at one point in the tunnel where the group was discussing going their own ways and they all said "yes" that they were going on...in the heat of the moment, I was nodding my head. It was by far a more interactive cinematic experience I've had in those regards.

Part 2---- SPOILERS-----I warned you----

I could hear grumbling and complaints from some of the people around me. They didn't want to ponder the ending. They wanted everything spelled out A-B-C to them. And personally I applaud the ending because it made me think.

Some seemed flustered that things were left unanswered. 1) did anyone from the group survive? Most likely not. A couple members' demise may not have been certain but we'd have to assume that they didn't make it. 2) Was the creature eliminated? That is almost definite. The fact that the camera was buried under so much debris it would have taken a serious cleanup effort to get to the camera and recover the film that was shot. The text at the very beginning tells you that the footage belongs to the US Department of Defense and refers to the area formerly known as Central Park where footage ends. So this would have most likely been done during a massive cleanup effort like that of 9/11 but on an even larger scale. What was the creature? Some likened him to Godzilla. Well much of the ""attack" could make you consider the creature to be Godzilla. But in looks, the insectoid creatures that it dropped I would have to say that it wasn't the fabled Godzilla. You'd have to agree that it came from the sea since the first victims were the tanker and the Statue of Liberty out in the bay. Some people seem to be put off the most because there wasn't a concise explanation. But I personally believe that one wasn't necessary. It came, caused massive destruction, probably killed millions of people and then was killed itself.

I believe that more than enough clues were provided throughout the entire movie and didn't need to be summed up in a clean package at the end. Was it sad that most, if not all, of the people that we spent time getting to know throughout the movie didn't make it? Of course it was. But again isn't that what happens in life? This movie was just ONE of the MILLIONS of stories that there would have been about that night/day. Some would have made it across the bridge and outside the blast zone and survived with an amazing albeit sad story.

I hope that maybe this helped some of you enjoy the film even more. But the actual cinema experience boiled down to me feeling the adrenaline rushes along with the characters. I quickly came to like and feel for the characters. I was drawn in immediately. And I just hope that everyone can get the same level of enjoyment from it that I did.