Review of Cloverfield

The hype was huge and, for once, justified. What a superb roller-coaster action/terror movie. Loved every minute of it.

I have to admit I was a bit dubious about the whole Cloverfield thing. Anything to do with the creator of that nonsense Lost is suspect in my book. How can anyone watch a series where the writers openly admit they have no idea where the plot is going. Luckily Cloverfield was different.

It's all shot using handycams which I know annoys some people but worked incredibly well here. Comparisons to Blair Witch were worrying since I thought that movie was a boring pile of old doo-doo.

The basic plotline is well known and I won't put too many spoilers in here. Guy sleeps with best friend, guy has going away party (heading to Japan). argues with girl who leaves, monster lands in NY, all hell breaks lose, guy has to rescue girl and his friends tag along.

The entire movie is done from perspective of loser buddy with handycam who always manages to say inappropriate things. The guys are all buff, the girls sexy. Twenty somethings in their prime. Monster changes all of that.

The initial phase of the movie with the party went on a little too long for my liking, but once the monster hit, it was a non-stop intense pounding action movie that never lets up for a second. People drop dead like flies but I was pleased to see minimal gore. It actually makes it more scary in a way.

The movie nods to a ton of the classics from Godzilla to Alien to Escape from New York. The ending worked well and I found it interesting that you didn't need to have paid any attention to the "viral marketing" campaign to enjoy every minute. I did some reading afterwards and there are lots of the usual Lost-style clues around the place. You can take or leave em.

Now for the $64000 question - a sequel? My money is on yes. Tons of threads left dangling, lots of opportunities for follow-up. If it's an alien it could be an invasion, if it's a deep sea monster unleashed by Japanese drilling - well that's just Godzilla isn't it. This movie is everything that the 1990's remake of Godzilla should have been.