Cloverfield (2008)

6.5/10

flawed, at times lacked in common sense but intensely engaging

Revolves around a monster attack in New York as told from the point of view of a small group of people.

After watching Super 8, I continued the marathon of sci-fi thriller / creature feature with Cloverfield. I gotta say, Super 8 had better character development, but Cloverfield had more action packed scenes.

The shaky hand held camera made the entire situation feel realistic and, at times, extremely dizzy. The guy Hudson (TJ Miller) who was holding the camera could be hold reacting to the situation around him but we don't get to see much of him throughout the entire film.

I enjoyed Troll Hunter, also a hand held camera type film, much more then Cloverfield because it had a more solid storyline. We learned a bit about trolls and why they were hunted. Cloverfield, though great action and thrilling, lacked in some sort of an explanations. I felt that at the end of the Cloverfield I was still left at the same plateau point that was reached when we were first introduced to the monster.

The action and intensity were all there. I love the casting of Lizzy Caplan (from Mean Girls) and TJ Miller (comedian).

The CGI is good, especially having to deal with such a shaky hand held camera. But it helps things that most of the monster we see are through quick pans and blurry monsters in the distance.

Few things that bothered me the most about Cloverfield is the purpose of the 4 friends running off. Also during a few scenes the 4 knew there was something dangerous out about the city, yet no one grabbed a weapon. I know a weapon might not have made a difference against the big giants but it would ahve done wonders against those the spider things. Another thing is when the group of friends reached the mall with the soldiers, NO one seem to have thought getting help first for their friend Marlena, who at that point of the film was hurt.

The relationship between Rob (Michael Stahl-David)and Beth (Odette Annable) are also a bit shaky and weak. The friendship wasn't explored that well to fully allow me to buy that the friends were so willing to go with Rob on his wild goose chase.

Overall, very intense and engaging film that is can keep your attention.