Synopsis

In a nutshell, this is The Blair Witch Godzilla: A giant monster attacks New York. The audience point-of-view is through the lense of a hand-held video camera as a group of survivors try to escape, all the while video-taping the events.

Pros:

• Short, sweet, pure fun.


• The movie doesn't try to justify it's thrills with high-minded sermons or science lessons. This is a good old fashioned b-movie.


• Great special effects and a pay-off that pays off.

Cons:

• A few images momentarily ruined my fun because they were so reminiscent of 9/11.


• This movie should have gotten an R-rating. Blood, intensity and swear-words abound.

Generally:

3.5 on a five scale. Good fun for grown-up action/horror movie fans.

Extended Review:

The first I heard about Cloverfield came in the form of an untitled, mysterious preview that played before last summer's Transformers. Frankly, I wasn't moved at all. It looked like one more big-budget action film, although one with the Blair Witch conceit of pseudo-documentary. That is to say, it proposed to be an artifact; a piece of video shot by the survivors of some sort of an attack on New York.

My immediate gut reaction was that the movie was probably in bad taste. Images of New York under attack seemed a little exploitive with 9/11 still a fairly fresh memory … and, besides, how many more big-budget end-of-the-world dog-and-pony-shows did Hollywood expect me to buy into?

Even the movie's eventual poster, featuring a beheaded Statute of Liberty, seemed just a little crass to me. It took Cube pointing out that the Statue of Liberty has provided an iconic centerpiece for years and years of science fiction for me to put it in the right context.

Finally, the movie's January release date came around and I was shocked to find out that most people seemed to agree that Cloverfield was actually pretty good. Both professional critcs and real people were generally happy with the film, so Wendy and I decided to give it a shot.

We saw it this evening, and I really wouldn't mind seeing it again. Cloverfield is a blessedly short, utterly light, totally enjoyable little action/horror movie. It's fun. Total fun. It has cringes, a few laughs, and some really good special effects. And it doesn't propose to be anything more than exactly what it is. This is a b-movie that knows it's limits and performs above expectations within them.

There are no proposed lessons here about science-gone-awry. There are no sermons about the environment or animal rights or nuclear testing. There is nothing here except a big city, a big monster, and a lot of running and yelling. While watching it, you might find yourself struggling to suppress the urge to yell "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"

Even the movie's Blair Witch device … the hand-held perspective … didn't grow tiresome. Mostly because the cast was likable and the script was tight. Ever notice that the three actors in The Blair Witch Project never went on to do anything? That's because everybody (even those of us who liked the film) friggin' hated them by the time Blair Witch was over. That's not an issue here. The cast is full of young, pretty people who seem smart enough to realize that none of them is the real star here. No hamming it up, no scenery chewing … just a lot of running and screaming. "Wheeeeeee!!"

Now, I have to admit, a few early shots did remind me uncomfortably of 9/11 news coverage. Smoke and ash and free-floating sheets of paper on New York streets are a very "real" image to me after that awful day. Nonetheless, once the monster (this movie's real star) begins to reveal itself, Cloverfield turns into total escapism. A few glimpses of Godzilla circa 2008 and I was comfortably in Hollywood La-La Land.

I'm reluctant to tell you too much about the monster itself. It really is best to go into this movie cold. The less you know the more you'll be swept away. But if you're the kind of person who just has to peek, you can peek to three different varying degrees below:

• Click here to see my own "artistic interpretation" of what the Cloverfield Monster looks like.


• Click here to see a more legit, fairly accurate artistic rendering of the Cloverfield Monster.


• And click here to read about the literary archetype that the Monster represents … and if you're familiar with this particular thing, I'm sure you'll agree that it was about time someone tried to represent it on the silver screen.

My complaints with Cloverfield are few, but I do see this movie as yet another example of MPAA incompetence. Cloverfield is rated PG-13, but there is enough blood and gore, intensity and harsh language to easily justify an R rating. We take our kids to PG-13 rated movies fairly frequently. I'm glad we didn't take them to this one. This movie was a lot of fun, but in my opinion it's for adults only.

And the pay-off? Forget about it. Cloverfield features the best new vision of menace since Ridley Scott's original alien, combined with Godzilla's size, King Kong's power and Hillary's breath. This thing is hideous. I loved it.

Trailer:

Labels: Entertainment, Movie Reviews, Movies