...And Then Comes Lividity

Ok perhaps 'lividity' isn't the perfect adjective to describe my feelings towards the movie I watched today. I guess I've been listening to Gorguts in superfluous quantities (I tell you that stuff can drive you insane after a while). Anyway, the reason for this post is to give you, the public, an insight to the freshly released film 'CLOVERFIELD'. No, you're not alone. I thought it was a peculiar name for a movie too. What does it mean? If you must know, the name 'CLOVERFIELD' is named for the boulevard in Santa Monica where the Bad Robot offices were located during the making of the film. Now for those of you who are wondering 'WTF!?'... it is merely a codename. Let's spare the trivia while I take the time to share my opinion on this original gem of a film. Do not be concerned about reading on; I assure you that my post will not incorporate any spoiler material, or anything potential in ruining the movie for you.

First thing's first. Plot. The movie revolves around a monster running rampant on the streets of New York. You're probably telling yourself "Ok, great another Godzilla and King Kong". WRONG. Sure you've got your typical monster on a 'show no mercy' rampage, but Cloverfield shouldn't be compared to the aforementioned films. The monster's attack on New York is documented by small group of people as they try and escape from being infected. We are shown their every move as they record their experiences. Ok so I've given you a crash course of the plot. Let's elaborate on the inner elements of Cloverfield.

Cinematography is reminiscent of the Blair Witch Project, where you see everything from the cameraman's point of view. Now I don't know about you, but if there was a monster bigger than the Eiffel Tower destroying everything in it's path, I'd drop the camera and make a bee line to the nearest escape point. Obviously, a certain person of this group has felt the need to document everything that is happening. During the first 5-10 minutes, you may be concerned about the dizzying camera movements, but remember, you're viewing the world from the camera of a 'normal' person as he holds it in a 'normal' fashion. There's a price you have to pay for realism, and semi-dizzying camera movements are it.

Essentially, I like to view the film as two parts. You have your pre-attack footage of all the events leading up to the attack, and then you have your post attack footage of the main characters trying to escape. What grabbed my interest is that I was able to see the character's grow and change as a result of the attack. This concept is similar to the movie 'The Deer Hunter' starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and the lovely Meryl Streep. In 'The Deer Hunter' we see how the characters live their normal lives before the Vietnam War commences, and then we see how much they change as a result of the war. To be precise though, Cloverfield is simply a movie focusing on first hand experience, rather than direction and technique.

A definite positive of this film is that it keeps you on the edge of your seat every second. The film contains countless suspenseful moments like the subway scene. As we all know, suspense is critical for keeping your audience interested. I can safely say this film had every bit of my attention throughout. The special effects are top knotch, definitely more believable than that of Will Smith's 'I Am Legend'. I'm completely oblivious to the technical side of things, so please don't flame me if that's an unfair comparison.

Now to get to every film's main ingredient. Acting. While Cloverfield may not have your Al Pacino's or your Kate Winslet's, the 'no-name' cast definitely provides the film a 'good enough' service. Notice I said 'good enough' and not great. If you want to get extremely critical, you could say the actors could have been a bit more engaging. I felt that they were missing that sense of urgency and the physical and emotional exhaustions that a real group would possess. What surprised me were the informalities towards the physical well being of the characters. You know how when you watch a movie, when a certain event or scene occurs, you go 'AS IF!'. This film contains a few of those.

A lot of people have criticized the manner in which the film ends, because it does end out of no where. They're entitled to complain, and don't worry, I won't spoil anything, but I just want to say that this is a film coming directly from a particular group's perspective. While I was bemused, the incomplete ending just makes it that much more realistic. Overall, Clovefield was an enjoyable watch. It's not something I'd go out of my way and borrow for the sake of watching it a second time. I suppose on paper you could look at the plot and label it gimmicky and unoriginal, but don't count your chickens until they've hatched.

Lenny's rating: 7/10.