Corporate line:
Director Matt Reeves (THE PALLBEARER) and producer J. J. Abrams (LOST, ALIAS) turn a mysterious monster loose in Manhattan in the disaster flick CLOVERFIELD. The movie begins at a party for Rob (Michael Stahl-David), who has accepted a promotion that will send him to Japan. Hud (T. J. Miller) is entrusted with the responsibility of videotaping the party–and as the trouble grows, he holds on to the camera, recording everything that happens. In fact, the entire movie is seen through the lens of his camera, reminiscent of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. As terrified people in a post-9/11 New York City take to the streets, Rob decides to head uptown to try to save Beth (Odette Yustman), the woman he loves, though he’s afraid to tell her so. Rob is joined by his brother Jason (Mike Vogel), Jason’s girlfriend Lily (Jessica Lucas), Lily’s friend Marlena (Lizzy Caplan), and Hud, who has a thing for Marlena. Rob is determined not to give up, even after almost being crushed by the Statue of Liberty’s head and as the military shows up to force evacuation of the city.
The review:
“Cloverfield” isn’t perfect and like many movies in this genre it doesn’t have to be. If you dig sci-fi monster style flicks then Cloverfield will fill your every want and need. Everyone enjoys comparing “Cloverfield” with “The Blair Witch Project” but that isn’t completely accurate. It’s scary, shot like an amateur flick and given a dose of crazy reality with its home video camera style cinematography. The difference is that “Cloverfield” is more entertaining throughout than “The Blair Witch Project.” “Cloverfield” isn’t the scariest movie–but it is certainly nerve-wrecking. These are the sort of movies that I love because you imagine yourself in the middle of it all and wonder “what would I do?” Most of us would just run–but then again this is a movie and reality is rarely inspiration.
The extras:
* Deleted Scenes
* Alternate Endings
* Clover Fun outtakes reel
* Commentary with Director Matt Reeves
* I Saw It! It’s Alive! It’s Huge! featurette
* Document 01.18.08: The Making of Cloverfield featurette
* Cloverfield Visual Effects featurette
Finally:
I love monster movies and “Cloverfield” is a scarier version of the usual dopey monsters movies like Godzilla or Mothra. If you are looking for a real chill with a few possible moments of nausea than “Cloverfield” is worth the rental.
“Cloverfield” trailer:
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.