A group of friends are getting together to celebrate Rob's new job in Japan, and one of them decides to film the party on a camcorder. During the celebration, there is what appears to be a massive earthquake, terrifying everyone. But worse is to come. Television news shows that the authorities have no idea what is happening, and the military are called in to try and contain everyone. The appearance of a massive monster throws everyone into a panic, and it seems that hiding places are few and far between. As people around them are dying, Rob and his friends struggle to survive....What is going on and will any of them live to tell the tale?
There isn't much in the way of character development in Cloverfield. To be honest, I wasn't really expecting much, but I did think there would be more than there was. Rob is the character that stands out the most, mainly because he is supposed to be leaving, but has an unresolved love interest. Michael Stahl-David plays Rob, and does a perfectly adequate job in the role. He spends a lot of time looking terrified out
of his brains, and is believable. I was disappointed by the performance though, just because I found it hard to really care what happened to him. This is not really the actor's fault - I think he did the best he could within the parameters he was given to work in - but I really felt short-changed. The other actors don't really even deserve a mention. There are two girls in the group of friends, but they were fairly interchangeable, and by the end of the film, I still didn't know what their names were, nor did I care.
The one thing that stood out in all the hype I'd heard about this film is the shaky camera shots. Obviously, the whole situation is filmed by one of the group of friends, who is not an expert film-maker, and so the shakiness fits in well with the story. And I must admit it suited the atmosphere very well, adding to the general sense of panic and unawareness. There are times when I had to ask why someone would be bothering to film when people are dying and the film-maker is himself in a life-threatening situation, but I was prepared to suspend disbelief for the sake of the story.
Having watched the film, what stands out is the amazing special effects. Although my head was telling me what was happening just wasn't possible, my eyes were telling me otherwise - I really believed that Manhattan was falling down around everyone's ears. And this is something that I hadn't really been expecting - knowing about the handy-cam technique, I had presumed that the film would visually be fairly dull and boring, but it is in fact very well-made. Watching, I was really reminded of the 9/11 events and the clips I saw on television; so much so that I felt like I was watching a documentary at times.
Unfortunately, the one place where this film particularly falls down is the story. There isn't really one. The entire premise of the film revolves around the chase to safety, but as I didn't really care about any of the characters, whether they survived or not was irrelevant to me and so the storyline was pointless. And although there is doubtless some originality in the way the story is told, I wasn't impressed with the whole monster thing - it just seemed a bit too unrealsitic for me. Nor was there any attempt to explain the monster - why he had suddenly appeared and where he had come from. This may not be necessary for everyone, but I do like some explanation with my horror films. Overall, I became disinterested about twenty minutes into the film, and after that, found the whole thing a bit of a boring, pointless drag. Thank goodness it is kept relatively short, or I don't think I would have managed to finish it.
There is a rating of 15 for this film, and I think that is about right. There are some fairly gory bits involving people being badly injured, and the whole claustrophobic emphasis of the film could scare the living daylights out of children, so be warned.
I do really applaud director Matt Reeves' attempt to make a film unlike any other, and I can see why the film has been critically acclaimed by many. However, it is just not my cup of tea. I enjoy the occasional action film, but I do need to have some form of a story and some character development to accompany it, and I just felt that that was missing here. It really is a long time since I have felt so bored by a film. The science fiction feel to it is not something that I enjoy either. I have to give it two stars because I can recognise the quality of the film-making, but really I resent having spent 85 minutes of my life having watched this. Not recommended.
The DVD is available from play.com for £11.99, but no doubt it will soon be available for less.
Classification: 15
Running time: 85 minutes
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Science Fiction - Director: Hiroyuki Yamaga - Original Language: Japanese - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Ayako Kawasumi, Fujiko Takimoto
"and the whole claustrophobic emphasis of the film could scare the living daylights out of children" And tallulahbangs, also. xx
EVIT 09.10.2008 12:24
As a Sci-Fi fan I enjoyed it quite a lot although it's not a perfect film and I can see plenty of the faults you indicated in your fine review. Still I can't wait to get a sequel. Voted very helpful because everone has their own opinions and you explained yours nicely.
blackmagicstar4 08.10.2008 15:56
Great review, havent seen it heard mixed things about it, thanks x
Advantages: The CGI/special effects are fairly good, its quite atmospheric I guess Disadvantages: Characters, a mix of too many genres, just doesnt really 'work' (see review)
IzzyS 19.10.2008 (19.10.2008)
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Review of Cloverfield (DVD)
Advantages: Some good special effects. Other than that - None Disadvantages: Stupid storyline, poor acting, gave me motion sickness...... the list goes on.
yackers1 01.05.2009 ·
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Review of Cloverfield (DVD)
Advantages: Thrills, Big Monsters, Through hand held camera, looks more practical though a fiction Disadvantages: Disturbing images , not suitable for children
pallavi_171 27.01.2008 (27.01.2008)
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Review of CloverfieldDVD
Advantages: I couldn't be too horrible and give it one star, it was entertaining Disadvantages: You want to love it but you just can't, and of course the humour
nathaninnit 02.02.2008 (02.02.2008)
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Review of CloverfieldDVD
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Oct 3rd, 2008
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