>>> Spoilers Ahead <<<
The first 15 minutes lull you with the minutiae of life, before their trivialities are dwarfed. I actually forgot I was supposed to be watching a monster movie, so the tremor did come as a genuine shock. Unlike Godzilla with its in-the-know third person perspective, Cloverfields street-level everyman view recreates the confusion of 9/11. However, like The Dark Knight's surveillance subplot, Cloverfield never resolves these parallels into a commentary of contemporary issues.
In keeping with the perspective, sightings of the monster are fleeting and rare. Unfortunately the script continually forces Rob on his rescue mission so that we encounter the monster. It also causes his friends to follow him back into Manhattan visibly against their sense of self-preservation. As encounters with the monster are sparing, the mini-monsters were added to the story to keep the characters in peril. I can only imagine they kill off Marlene to demonstrate how dangerous the parasites are and to allow the finalé to transpire. Otherwise, I thought it was unneccessary. Actually, I think it's just because I thought she was most attractive.
I let these issues pass as I was enjoying the film. I had greater trouble forgiving the Man on Wire-esque rescue of Beth. The three characters we have up to this sequence have managed to avoid death for however many hours; but, though they doth protest weakly again, risk it all to cross from one tower into the other in order to rescue Beth who should by all means be dead, given the steel bar poking through her chest. Her relationship with the main-character ensures she's alive for the finalé.
I've seen enough films to expect Lily's helicopter to go down. Instead, it's our heroes who crash. Hud the cameraman is conveniently offed in the closest encounter of the film, which I don't like.
Firstly, Hud walks over to it seemingly without realising it's there. Secondly, I would expect the monster to ignore Hud being so insignificant in comparison, but this would demystify the threat of the monster, and again leave us with a surplus in the finalé. Thankfully the ending is a downer, and an inversion of Godzilla at that. The very short runtime (84mins, nearly 15 of which is credits) leaves me wanting more. What I don't want is a river of exposition which is what some are complaining about on the IMDB forums. Despite the shortcomings, I enjoyed the ride.
Rundown:
- Refreshing idea (restricted perspective throughout action)
- Reaches for heights, falls short (parallels sans commentary)
- Slow reveal of the monster (à la Jaws)
- Characters are flat (despite their everyman status)
- Script pushes along too strongly (forced by short duration)
- Script's credibility is stretch in places (the tower crossing)
- Not a 'reimagining' (automatic praise)
8/10 (a good film)
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