Movie : Cloverfield (2008)

The more I think about this movie, the more I like it. It was able to carefully balance the precarious line of a hand held cam. It could have either looked too professional, or completely unwatchable. Choosing unknown actors works well for this kind of movie, if you know that the person is an actor, it tends to take away the amateur feel. I noticed this when I recognized one of the military officers. For that time I was thinking: oh, I know him, where have I seen him before, kind of takes away from the realism, I wonder why they chose him.. And missed that chunk of movie distracted by my own thoughts.

I'm amazed at the f/x. There weren't many shots, but the ones used were well done. I don't know how they were able to match them to the jerky handy cam movements. Not showing more of the monster is a brilliant way to keep the audience on the edge. It's scarier to see glimpses of a terrifying monster, than to see too many shots of what may be a disappointing model. Even the close shots of the monster were well done, adding to the fear.

Many times I found myself having to relax my clenched arms. Prying my fingers off of the armrest. An edge of your seat, and occasionally extremely boring movie. The friendships and romantic relationship seemed a little forced. It really didn't come across as realistic. Odd interactions between people and confusing responses to a disastrous event. Distracting from an otherwise impressive movie.

A lot of criticism seems to be aimed at the overly long battery life of the camera. Seriously? I can't imagine why this would be that much of a distraction to people. Incidentally, the camera didn't run for the entire night (7 hours or so), it was only on for at the most two hours, or 84 mins, the length of the movie.

I wasn't too impressed by the monster design, I think they could have come up with a better one. Especially for the mini me monsters. The rendering and animation on the creature was great though, very realistic.

I like the direction this could lead movies. Like The Blair Witch Project (1999), it utilizes the handy cam to make the audience believe they are actually viewing the event as it happened. This technique may unfortunately get over-used and employed as a cheap gimmick. But in the right hands it could bring an honesty and intensity that isn't seen in other movies.

3 ½ out of 5

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