There are two reviews of the new monster movie “Cloverfield” here. First is the basic response to the question, “Is it any good?” Second will come the pretentious meta-review.
First review: It’s not bad. The creators of this film did their homework; they know that what isn’t shown is far scarier than that which is. The best parts of this movie come when you can’t quite tell what’s happening.
It starts with some computerized lettering which informs us that what we’re about to watch is video camera footage found in New York City’s Central Park after Operation Cloverfield. This film-leader is marked “Department of Defense,” with various bits of official verbiage. Then the supposed tape starts, conveniently filling in some back-story by starting with the scene of a young man, Rob (Michael Stahl-David) on a date at Coney Island with Beth (Odette Yustman).
This footage, however, gets taped over by Rob’s friends as they throw a party for him before he leaves Manhattan for a new job in Japan. Most of the filming is done by Rob’s best friend, Hud (T. J. Miller). Other main characters include Rob’s brother Jason (Mike Vogel), Jason’s girlfriend Lily (Jessica Lucas) and Hud’s crush Marlena (Lizzy Caplan). The film moves so quickly, we never get to delve into the characters or sympathize with them much more than in the general way one would feel bad for anyone getting attacked by a giant monster.
The party is suddenly interrupted by what seems like an earthquake. The friends run up to the roof and get glimpses of some horrific destruction going on just a few blocks away. When the severed head of the Statue of Liberty is knocked down their street, they know they’re in trouble. They flee, realizing that something inhuman is attacking the city.
In the most effective sequence in the entire movie, the group is caught in the throng fleeing Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge. Without being able to clearly see what happens, we get the idea that the monster somehow causes the bridge to collapse. The terror of people running as bridge cables whip and snap all around them is scary. The modern technologies of computer graphics and realistic foley sound editing make this sequence frighteningly good.
Unfortunately, the least effective parts of the movie are the places where the monster (and its little friends) are clearly seen. Being illustrated on the computer, the creatures actually come out a little too clearly. Real, three-dimensional creatures caught on digital video would not come out so pristinely. Rather, the movement of the small creatures would be so fast that the video camera couldn’t focus on them; and the large monster is so big, a hand-held camera would have trouble focusing on it because of depth perception. (Oh, and for those who are wondering, the small creatures are apparently some sort of lice or crabs that giant monster lizards get. I’ll bet this creature now regrets that one-night-stand with Frankenfish).
Anyway, let’s just set aside the probability of a cam-corder battery lasting all night long, or how these folks manage to walk half of Manhattan isle (one in high heels) and still have the energy to climb a skyscraper to rescue a friend. It’s a monster movie. You’ll have that.
In sum, “Cloverfield” combines the queasy hand-held camera work of “The Blair Witch Project” with the basic “monster eats metropolis” plot familiar from “Godzilla,” “King Kong” and others (let’s just try to forget about “Mothra”). It is fast-paced and has some good special effects. And that’s that.
Now, let’s get pompous.
Second review: Monster movies are one of the deepest windows into society’s soul. Years ago, Godzilla was always defeated. Gort and Klaatu were solidly stopped. The general rule of thumb then was that the monster was obvious, it always lost, and the good guys always won. What does it say about our world now that the threat remains so elusive throughout much of this movie? Not only is the monster rarely seen, it is by no means clearly implied that the army ever successfully kills it. As the footage is presented, the nation evidently has survived, but at what cost? And since the video was found, it makes it very likely that “our heroes” never made it out alive.
The obvious shadow looming over “Cloverfield” is the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. In imagery and atmosphere, this film strongly echoes the real images that so haunted the world in the hours and days after those attacks. Perhaps we deal with that disturbing legacy by recycling it in our celluloid dreams. But it becomes very chilling indeed when we recognize that this time around, the fairy tale has no clear ending.
