BLOG REVIEW (DVD): CLOVERFIELD

Directed by: Mark Reeve
Written by: Drew Goddard
Produced by: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Mike Vogel, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, Odette Yustman


The “Monster” movie has been apart of cinema since the beginning. For decades, audiences have enjoyed being horrified by large creatures terrorizing cities and the people who reside in them. Mark Reeve’s 2008 film Cloverfield is that latest monster movie to terrify audiences around the world.
Inspired by movie monsters of the past, such as Godzilla or King Kong, Reeves and producer J.J. Abrams sought to capture the majesty of those creatures in a modern day scene with a brand new monster. The movie starts out with a very obvious twist, it is told in a first person, real time style from an every day camcorder. The movie focuses around the main character Robert Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David), who is attending a going away party for his upcoming trip to Japan. The party was being thrown by his brother Jason (Mike Vogel) and his brother’s girlfriend Lily (Jessica Lucus), and was being filmed by his best friend Hudson (T.J. Miller). The first 15 minutes or so of the film focus on the characters and their back stories, specifically Rob and his struggling relationship with his best friend/girl friend Beth (Odette Juliette Yustman). This information, like the rest of the movie, is all presented through the eyes of the hand held cam, so the audience is left to put together the pieces. The party is soon interrupted by an earthquake like event, and the characters soon find themselves in the streets of Manhattan with an unexplained event happening. As the movie goes on, more is revealed about a monster invading the city, and the movie focuses on the characters trying to escape from the city.
The key to Cloverfield is the style of filming; it is the Blair Witch Project meets Godzilla. The unique style works well for the film though, it give the audience a very realistic and human feel to a very none realistic situation. The film does a good job delivering a deeper love story in the midst of all the chaos, and it serves to be a solid secondary plot. The monster element of the movie is very much there, as the movie is full of suspense and action. The monster is gradually revealed to the audience, in traditional fashion, until the end where the whole thing is shown.
All and all, Cloverfield is a pretty entertaining film. A decently short run time and suspenseful structure make it a fun movie to sit down and watch. The one element of the film that does disappoint however is the lack of explanation of the monster, which weakens the ending. Cloverfield won’t replace King Kong and Godzilla in American pop-culture, but it is a good monster movie.