Well I watched Cloverfield at the cinema tonight, and I’m still shaking! I was suprised to find that the film relies heavily on things that are taking place just out of shot most of the time; it doesn’t use the cheap trick of relying on violence and gore to fill the seats. The complex soundscape is what makes this film; the thud of the monster’s footfalls, the constant thunder of choppers flying overhead, the whoosh of rockets and lots more serve to constantly increase the tension. The handheld camera technique they use throughout was also a very brave decision, as some people have said that it makes them feel ill. It is a bit dizzying for the first minute or two, but very soon you forget about it as you get drawn into a very believable story about a group of young people caught up in a disaster of biblical proportions.
If it has any flaws, the film is a bit of a slow starter. In my view it lingers a little too much on the setup, where you get to know the characters that will be involved in the action later on. I guess they did this to keep costs down, but 5 minutes of this before the fur starts to fly would have been fine. Be warned however; don’t get to like these people *too* much, because this film has an attrition rate worse than a room full of Star Trek “red shirts”. Don’t think that this translates into a “Hostel”like gore-fest though, it doesn’t. Again, the really messy action takes place off-screen.
There was one jarring moment for me; a truly blatant piece of product placement which actually pulled me out of the story for a few moments. Click and drag your mouse over the blank space after this text if you want to be forewarned about what it is… When the main character is sitting on a bench on the subway platform, there is a *huge* Nokia advert right behind him that occupies the screen for nearly 20 seconds. That one little annoyance aside, I think that Cloverfield is already one of the must-sees of 2008. A definite 90% from me
Thanks P for the great post title by the way!