Sunday, September 11, 2011

Cloverfield


I never really had intentions to review this film, since I had only heard it a few times and had absolutely no idea about what this movie was about. However attending a friend's birthday party and this was the film of choice, I sat back in my chair and tried to watch attentively. I said tried because it was slightly hard to hear over the mingled voices and the extremely boisterous voice of my friend Gonzo shouting out the movie's plot =D. Nevertheless, I was indeed able to watch the movie, with a little help now and then from my friend Troy giving me the insight as to what was going on when I couldn't hear (lol). So I will cease my aimless rambling and begin my review.

At first, I was a little confused about the film being all from a video camera and it being a documentary. The beginning was a little slow, I have to say but it picked up tempo as the film progressed. After a while, I began to enjoy the first-hand encounter side and thought it made the movie interesting. It produced another side to the movie that I don't think a regular set film could produce. It gave the illusion that you were experiencing the horror right along with them. However, I would be lying if I said it didn't make me dizzy a few times :).

It would be an understatement to say the film was intense. I was on the edge of my seat from the time that the "earthquake" had happened at the party. It was suspenseful, and had me guessing what was going to happen next. It had a right amount of humor that thankfully wasn't too overwhelming, plenty of enough action and just a hint of romance to make a very well-rounded movie. Which leads to my next discussion topic....the plot.

I actually really liked the plot. At first I didn't understand really where this film was headed, so if one wasn't observant the whole entire time you may not understand where the film will take you. So attentivness is required for this film, but that isn't really a setback. It is pretty obvious that a huge unknown beast is completely tearing NYC to shreds. But I like how they were able to intertwine the aspects of the movie together, i.e. the humor, terror and romance.



The visual effects were pretty awesome, I must say. It looked believable, and if I was to see a HUGE prehestoric monster make a buiding fall down like it is a pile of cards, I would have had a heart attack right then and there.

So the CGI was convincing, yet I wanted to see more of the monster. I don't think they showed quite enough of it. Also, I really wanted to see the actual attacking of the monster take place. I was looking forward to the bombings and and army shooting at it and the whole enchillada! I think, too, that perhaps the origin and/or the type of species of the monster could have been discussed. I would have been interested to know things like that, but I know that would have been difficult. But overall, it was pretty well put together.

So, since this is obviously not a new movie, I am going to basically say that I thoroughly enjoyed this film and would recommend it to pratically anyone. When I say anyone, I refer to people who like horror/sci-fi films. Those who are all googley-eyed over romance movies should look elsewhere, because even though the movie does have somewhat of a love story, it is not that heavy.
My overall review of this movie is that it is really good, but I think it could have been a little longer. A little bit more length could have given it time to use more explanation and perhaps made the idea alot more clearer.
Regardless, it's a good movie where a hideous thing decapitates the Statue of Liberty...need I say more? Go see it and be terrified!

B+

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