I’ve always loved Godzilla movies. Giant monsters arising from
the oceans to stomp all over Tokyo, while the Japanese military helplessly throw
everything they have at the creature, is something that I still love watching.
As a kid it was more because I loved looking at the intricately built miniature
cities that the rubber-suited monsters terrorized. The attacking tanks and
planes almost always had this toy-like quality to them that I enjoyed seeing. I
can’t help but wonder if this early obsession with Godzilla movies at such a
young age helped spur my love of making models. J.J. Abrams also apparently
loves this sort of genre, as well. As he’s stated in recent interviews, Abrams
was in Japan, promoting a film, when he visited a store and saw countless
Godzilla items on the shelves.
Wanting to create a Godzilla-type monster for America, J.J. Abrams produced
Cloverfield, a monster movie which has been described as being The Blair Witch
Project meets Godzilla--thanks to its method of telling the story strictly
through a video camera that’s being held throughout the film by a character
named Hud (well-played with great comic timing by T.J. Miller). The result is a
very effective, realistic and low-to-the-ground POV of a giant monster attack on
New York City that’s being witnessed first-hand by a group of friends. The
single camera method gives the film the feeling of being a much larger epic
that’s being viewed through a very personal storyline.
While some people--such as Godzilla fans who are used to their epics being told
in the standard, multi-story POV method--may find this annoying, the overall
effect is very chilling. The viewer only gets as much information as the
characters do, and because of this, it’s hard not to get caught up in the action
as the characters run madly through the streets of a devastated New York,
catching only frenzied glimpses of this impossible monstrosity that shows up
with no warning to tear the city apart. There’s no dramatic music, no thundering
theme that introduces the monster--and despite the single shaky camera POV, the
filmmakers still do a marvelous job at showing pitched battles between the creature and
the U.S. military.
The film begins almost like an episode of Abrams' TV show Felicity, with a going-away
party for Rob, and we get caught up in the soap opera-ish angst as Hud--a 21st
century techno-geek who firmly believes in documenting everything--records the
on and off romance between Rob and Beth, the traditional love birds around which
every good monster movie must center. But it’s Miller’s Hud and Lizzy Caplan’s
Marlena who really stole the show for me; their offbeat personalities and quirky
banter had me rooting for them from the very beginning. It’s not long before the
party is shattered--literally--by distant explosions, crumbling skyscrapers, along
with the head of the Statue Of Liberty in a scene that's eerily reminiscent of
the horrors of September 11, 2001.
The single-disc DVD that I reviewed contains a slew of special features, which
include a commentary by the director, Matt Reeves, as well as a host of making
of documentaries, outtakes and other fun things. If you’re expecting the
traditional Japanese monster movie, where everything is explained thanks to a
multiple POV, you may be disappointed. But if you’re open to the idea of a
traditional big monster movie that’s told in a fresh and startling way, then
give Cloverfield a try. It’s in the same league as Steven Spielberg’s equally marvelous
War Of The Worlds remake and Frank Darabont’s equally chilling The Mist.
--SF
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