Cloverfield-First 30 Minutes Is Pure Crap
Like life isn’t creepy and stressful enough these days we have to get hit with something like Cloverfield. Where to start? There are people out there that think that anything J.J. Abrams touches suddenly finds itself imbued with a special magical glow. Not surprisingly, I am not one of those dupes. I think the television series Lost has fallen apart. Most people must now agree that Lost is just that-lost. God help all those Star Trek fans when Abrams gets finished slaying the entertainment industries largest cash cow. Oh sure the first Star Trek movie Abrams helms will do great box office, but after that? I digress…
This is one tough film to review. The first thirty minutes of the film is pure crap. Seriously, it is pure and absolute crap. In fact the first thirty minutes of this film might be the single worst thirty minutes I have ever spent watching a major Hollywood release. Yes, worse than My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I can not stress how serious I am on this point. It is dreadful.
Here is why: Cloverfield is shot handheld from the perspective of a dim-witted, alcohol poisoned frat boy who is video taping the going away party for our hero, another self-centered frat boy named Rob. Yes, the entire film is shot handheld and unfortunately the pea brain in question; Hud, isn’t lucky enough to have even a cheap handheld HD camcorder. No Hud is stuck, and we are stuck, with something that is kind of between standard definition and high-definition in its appearance. That is not good. Combine the resolution issue with lots of jerky camera movement and running around screaming “ah, oh my God! What is that?!” well you get the idea.
To a certain extent Cloverfield is Blair Witch with a crazy budget.
The decision to go handheld for the entire film isn’t edgy, it isn’t slick, no, it is stupid, lazy and annoying. But it does serve its purpose, which is to namely remind the audience of all the 9-11 footage. Once the monster starts ripping NYC apart it becomes incredibly obvious that the filmmakers are attempting to remind us of 9-11. Where one goes from there is open to interpretation but there is little doubt that the visual memory of 9-11 is being invoked and exploited.
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