Camera is the real star of Cloverfield
Monsters, mayhem and madness mixed with a unique filming style make Cloverfield an original and great movie.
Smiles, laughter and fun at a goodbye party for Rob (Michael Stahl-David) start the movie off on an up beat. The party is thrown by Rob's brother Jason (Mike Vogel) and his girlfriend Lily (Jessica Lucas) in their New York City apartment. A good friend, Hud (T.J. Miller), is put in charge of filming the party and getting everyone to say their goodbyes to the camera as a gift to Rob.
However, the pleasantries don't last long. An explosion shortly followed by the Statue of Liberty's head flying through the city and crashing near the apartment sends the partiers in to a panic. Something starts destroying the city and killing people as it goes. Rob, Jason, Lily, Hud and another friend Marlena (Lizzy Caplan), must make some difficult decisions as to what to do next. Hud continues to film everything the group does, knowing that someone will want to know how everything went down. The journey out of New York City and the search for a friend while a monster is loose in the city brings suspense, terror and excitement to the rest of the film.
I really, really liked this movie. It was so original and at times very surprising. The entire film was documented through a personal video camera, much like in The Blair Witch Project, however, it is not nearly as shaky and is therefore much easier to watch.
I think that choosing to film the movie using that method is what really makes Cloverfield stand out. Partly because not many movies use this technique, but also because it suits the style and always kept things interesting.
At one point the camera is dropped and the audience can only see part of what was going on, but you could hear everything and I really wanted to see what was happening. The movie just felt so real and really got the audience worked up as to what was going to happen.
Another aspect of Cloverfield that I really liked was that at first they hardly show the monster. You see snippets of video from the news channels and a tail as it goes around a corner. Gradually you start to see more, but you never really see the thing attack New York City in its entirety, which is frustrating, but really kept your eyes glued to the screen, hoping to see more.
The actors in this movie were great because there were a lot of long shots and they had to stay in character and keeping things interesting. Some of the shots were very involved and had a lot going on all at once. Also, they continuously showed emotions that felt so real. I do not recommend this movie to people who can not handle movies with shaky camera because the entire movie is filmed using that method. I do recommend this movie to anyone who likes a suspenseful action movie that is always interesting and will keep you wanting more.
Final Words: Saw it. Loved it. Let's hope that monsters never attack London.
Smiles, laughter and fun at a goodbye party for Rob (Michael Stahl-David) start the movie off on an up beat. The party is thrown by Rob's brother Jason (Mike Vogel) and his girlfriend Lily (Jessica Lucas) in their New York City apartment. A good friend, Hud (T.J. Miller), is put in charge of filming the party and getting everyone to say their goodbyes to the camera as a gift to Rob.
However, the pleasantries don't last long. An explosion shortly followed by the Statue of Liberty's head flying through the city and crashing near the apartment sends the partiers in to a panic. Something starts destroying the city and killing people as it goes. Rob, Jason, Lily, Hud and another friend Marlena (Lizzy Caplan), must make some difficult decisions as to what to do next. Hud continues to film everything the group does, knowing that someone will want to know how everything went down. The journey out of New York City and the search for a friend while a monster is loose in the city brings suspense, terror and excitement to the rest of the film.
I really, really liked this movie. It was so original and at times very surprising. The entire film was documented through a personal video camera, much like in The Blair Witch Project, however, it is not nearly as shaky and is therefore much easier to watch.
I think that choosing to film the movie using that method is what really makes Cloverfield stand out. Partly because not many movies use this technique, but also because it suits the style and always kept things interesting.
At one point the camera is dropped and the audience can only see part of what was going on, but you could hear everything and I really wanted to see what was happening. The movie just felt so real and really got the audience worked up as to what was going to happen.
Another aspect of Cloverfield that I really liked was that at first they hardly show the monster. You see snippets of video from the news channels and a tail as it goes around a corner. Gradually you start to see more, but you never really see the thing attack New York City in its entirety, which is frustrating, but really kept your eyes glued to the screen, hoping to see more.
The actors in this movie were great because there were a lot of long shots and they had to stay in character and keeping things interesting. Some of the shots were very involved and had a lot going on all at once. Also, they continuously showed emotions that felt so real. I do not recommend this movie to people who can not handle movies with shaky camera because the entire movie is filmed using that method. I do recommend this movie to anyone who likes a suspenseful action movie that is always interesting and will keep you wanting more.
Final Words: Saw it. Loved it. Let's hope that monsters never attack London.
