Cloverfield
Our once Japan-based, now San Diego-inhabiting friend Tyger wrote a nice little review on the recent J.J. Abrams smash-fest Cloverfield. It may have some minor spoilers for those of you who may not have seen the movie yet…since you’re not really supposed to know much of anything about the movie before you see it. Still, It’s been out for a few weeks now, so too bad. That’s why you see it on the opening weekend.
Anyway, I’ll post this one, but from now on his ass can post his own reviews…now that I changed his account privileges. Until then, read on to see if he thought it was a non-stop thrill ride, or fluff-filled motion-sickener…
Okay ladies and gentlemen lets just get this out of the way first…Godzilla will not be making an appearance in this movie, neither in CG or our beloved hidden zipper variety. No go on and get that out of your system… its cool I’ll wait…. great now prepare to piss yourself. We’re going for a ride.
The first thing to note about this movie is that it due to the way it is filmed it should come with the same disclaimer most prescription drugs are advertised with. This movie is not for everyone. People who suffer from car or air sickness, hangovers should not see this movie. Women who
are pregnant, expect to be pregnant or are expecting sex on the way home from this movie should first consult a doctor. Everyone else should avoid the front-most seats of the theater like the black plague.
To fully understand the theme of this film, one need only to watch any of the sixty trailers floating around the web. A young man is on his way to Japan and his friends throw him a going away party when a monster decides tonight is the night to take Manhattan and wipe his ass with it. That’s pretty much it folks. No wild Six Sense-esque twist at the end. No crazy side stories delving into the depths of the human psyche. Just
a whole lot of running, screaming, and various death sequences the likes of which could not get any cooler until you factor in the “shaky cam” technique that runs the gamut of the film. This is by no means a bad thing. J.J. Abrams does an incredible job of making you care about everyone in this film, regardless of how stupid they are and once you get a glimpse of the monster itself the feeling of shock and awe really never leaves you.
Most people would immediately compare this movie to “The Blair Witch Project” because of the home camera format that is used. I would almost say that this is a fair comparison because of one fact. This movie would not have kept my attention nearly as long as it did with out it. Once again, not necessarily a bad thing. The camera never really felt like something that was tacked on for shits and giggles. It was part of that “thing” that not only drives the story but makes you care about where its going.
Between the moments where I felt I needed to change my underwear because of jumping out of my seat and the ones where I needed to change my underwear from laughing so hard I could only think of two things. I HAVE to get this movie when it comes out on DVD….. and I have to find some more absorbent underwear. This is a great movie. The Japanese Zipper Dragon would be proud.
