Cloverfield

Ok, so after all the hype I finally got a chance to see this film and two days later I still have a headache!! I was hoping that this film would be different than “Blair Witch,” but unfortunately it was not. From the contrived storyline, to the horrible camera work, to the poor acting this film misses on almost every level. 

When I found out that JJ Abrams was involved in this film I expected, at the very least, an interesting storyline that would keep me guessing throughout the film. It’s what he does so well on Lost and Alias. It never materializes. When I looked a little further into who did what it became clear as to why…. Abrams brings all of his TV buddies to the film (writer Drew Goddard and director Matt Reeves) resulting into a glorified TV movie that fails to make an impact on the big screen. Now, I’m not one to bash TV people crossing over to film (or vice versa) but if you are going to make the crossover you better understand how the medium changes how you write and direct the film. Goddard and Reeves fail miserably in this regard. Watching this film seems like you are watching a television pilot. The storyline is being told just to set up the series, not to stand on it’s own as a quality film. Since Cloverfield 2 is arleady in pre-production it’s obvious that this was their intent, but that still doesn’t make this film any better.

More specifically, I hated the camera work and all-too-convenient plot devices. First the camera work. It gave me a headache and it didn’t add a single thing to the story. That’s the worst thing. It was a gimmick. I’m fine with taking chances (remember the old M*A*S*H episode told from the POV of the patient - brilliant) but it has to enhance the story or it just stands out as “look ma, no hands.” Second, the writing. I hate it when characters are just plain stupid or doing things that are totally unreal. What am I talking about? A monster attacks the city from the water and the military decides the best way to evacuate the city is over a bridge?? How about a skyscraper falls against another and neither collapse AND are structurally sound enough for four people to walk to the top. Oh, and a helicopter crashes and only our heroes survive (did they steal this from that ER episode?).

Maybe I’m being unfair here. Maybe I expected too much from Abrams and crew, but if I were JJ and I was making the crossover into film I would go and get an established film crew to make my idea fly. Unfortunately he didn’t and the result is a truly bad made-for-tv horror film that belongs on “Creature Features” not the big screen.

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Film’s website: http://www.cloverfieldmovie.com