Dir: Matt Reeves / Writer: Drew Goddard / Cinematography: Michael Bonvillain
What indeed? image: MarcinWichary FlickrCC
It’s alive!!!
This is such a clever little movie. A monster flick shot on shaky handicam with a small cast of unknowns, in what appears to be real-time. It’s just like your friend’s home movie…if (of course) they happened to be caught up in a dino-disaster of terrifying proportions.
A going-away party in downtown Manhattan is rudely interrupted by the mother of all earthquakes, bright lights and the small matter of the US Army telling everyone to run for their lives… which really adds a bit of narrative “kick” to any movie. Director Matt Reeves cleverly drives the home movie conceit through from start to finish. The audience only sees, hears or knows what the person carrying the camera sees, hears or knows (and cleverly that person changes throughout the film) but, like them, we imagine a whole lot more.
These people are normal twenty-something partygoers; they’re scared, drunk, unprepared and utterly unheroic. And, when the climax comes – a thrilling, blisteringly fast 85 minutes later – we’re totally unprepared too.
Cloverfield is the rarest of beasts; an enthralling action flick that sets the mind racing. What would you do in their situation? A truly chilling prospect.
Review rating for Cloverfield : 4/5
IMDb entry
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