On my trips to Santa Monica and the LA area, Cloverfield Blvd would always say hello to me as we I was on my way to wherever I was going. Either the signs for traffic or the street itself. J.J. Abrams would take this street to the offices of Bad Robot Productions everyday and decided to use it as the title for a film he'd always wanted to do, about a giant monster attacking a city. Abrams felt that America needed its own version of Godzilla. The end result of a collaboration between himself, director Matt Reeves, and writer Drew Goddard is the finest example of the found footage genre: "Cloverfield."
The film begins with Rob Hawkins (Michael Stahl - David), a young 20-something big shot who's being thrown a going away party after getting a luxurious promotion in which he needs to move to Japan for. His buddy Hud (T.J. Miller), is glued to the camera documenting the night. During the excitement, a loud explosion is heard coming from the outside. A ship has capsized in the New York harbor. A roar is heard. A large creature has risen from the ocean and made its way into the city. During the events of the party, Rob's ex-girlfriend Beth (Odette Yustman) left the party angry at Rob and his concern is immediately raised. As the monster begins to destroy the city, Rob and his friends must stick together to try and make out of the city alive. However, he has other plans, telling them that he has to find Beth before they get out, realizing that his feeling for her haven't gone away.
What a terrible time to make a beer run
The hype for this film began long before any sort of plot was released. As with every J.J. Abrams production, the plot and everything to do with it was kept tightly under wraps. To hype the event, a trailer was shot to play at the front of the release of the first "Transformers" picture. In a very effective, "Planet of the Apes" style homage, the Statue of Liberty is wrecked. Even though "Cloverfield" was not the first film in the found footage genre, it was the one that brought it back to national attention in the media showing that not only can it be an effective form of storytelling, but that it could be done well under the correct circumstances. The script by Goddard is a beautiful homage to the classic Kaiju films from Japan like the original "Godzilla" pictures and at the same time, keeping the suspense of classic American horror films by using the less is more approach of never really showing the monster.
What's so great about the film though, is that it is not a film about the monster. It's about the people that are caught up in the horror of things. At its heart, it's a story about Rob reconciling with his girlfriend and unfortunately, it took the attack of a giant monster to make him realize that he still loved her. The regret and panic on Stahl - David's face is super projective of all of his emotions. We can tell his is afraid, panicked, and laden with urgency. His friend Hud, who provides all of the comedic relief is never seen. T.J. Miller really sells his role only through his voice. There's an extremely effective sequence in which the group of friends is attacked in a subway. The suspense is almost Hitchcockian in that we slowly find out things are awry before they actually do.
From the left, Jessica Lucas, Lizzy Kaplan, Michael Stahl - David, and TJ Miller in "Cloverfield"
The monster itself completely remains a mystery. We find out only what the characters hear and are told only what they are told. Yet another beautiful thing about the FF genre is that it limits the amount of information the viewer gets, which for many, isn't a good thing. But I personally love the artistic choices that come with the genre. However, it's a risk. The film takes a major risk by never really showing the monster when that's what got so many people to watch the film in the first place. However, it pays off in a big, big way.
One thing that many people miss about this film is the score. Yes, even though it is a found footage picture, frequent Abrams collaborator Michael Giacchino composed a 9 minute suite to play over the end credits of the film titled, ROAR! This, in my opinion is the best part about the film. It works just as effectively with and without the film, because in the first place, there was nothing to score - the film is supposed to be from a mini - DV camera. When the picture ends, sit back and listen to Giacchino's exciting, romantic, and terrifying score for the film.
At 85 minutes, "Cloverfield" packs a mighty punch. To this day, I haven't seen a better found footage film. Again, as a staple of the genre, the ending may leave many unsatisfied, but that greatly depends on the viewer. The acting is solid, script excellent, and the direction by Matt Reeves cleverly hides that there was any direction at all. It's a shame that when the film was released, a large quantity of people were upset that the film was not about the monster itself. If it was, it would be stumbling into Michael Bay territory. Instead of giving us 85 minutes of "destruction porn", Matt Reeves delivered one of the best monster movies of the 21st century.
8/10
ROAR! By Michael Giacchino:
Rated PG-13
Directed by Matt Reeves
Written by Drew Goddard
From an idea by J.J. Abrams
Runtime 85 minutes
Suggested edition: Official blu ray release
7.1 of 10 stars on IMDb
77% on Rotten Tomatoes
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