The "I've Seen Cloverfield" thread

Ra88 · Jan 17, 2008

Since the movie will be out tomorrow, I thought I'd go ago and make this thread in preparation.

Oh, and MARK YOUR SPOILERS, and preferably use the silver color tag as well. It would be nice to not spoil it for people who just want to know if the movie's good. We don't want another debacle like with the I Am Legend thread, do we?

It won't be released here until thursday next week (AARGH), so I'll start off with a spoilerfree review from Slashfilm.Com:

Cloverfield Review
Posted on Wednesday, January 16th, 2008 at 1:44 am by: Peter Sciretta

I saw it! It’s alive! It’s Huge! I just got home from a screening of Cloverfield, the JJ Produced monster film which has hogged the online hype since July. I don’t have the time to do an extensive review of this movie, as I need to catch a plane to Park City for the Sundance Film Festival in just seven hours. But here is my first take.

The potential problem with a movie like Cloverfield is that the hype can wear thin reallt fast, especially when you’re subject them to near-pointless online viral storylines (what was the point of Jamie’s videos anyways?). But things ramped up these last few weeks, and I feel like I’ve seen more of this movie online than I ever wanted to beforehand. It’s a difficult balance to keep the hype going without giving away too much. And sure, they didn’t show the monster, but seeing too much beforehand was my second biggest concern going into the film. Maybe I had already seen all the cool sequences from the film in the advertising?

Friends, I am here to tell you that there is nothing to be concerned about. There is a lot in this movie that was not shown in the marketing. There is more monster than I originally believed there would be. And yes, you do get to see him very very very close-up. He’s unlike any movie monster I’ve ever seen before. A very cool and unique design, and I think you’ll be pleased. The sound design is incredible, I seriously wouldn’t be shocked if this got nominated for some sound related awards, possibly an Oscar (yes, seriously).

My biggest concern going into the film was about the characters. Would I really care about Rob and Beth and all the characters briefly shown running around in the trailer?

Surprisingly, I was wrong again. The characters are very relatable, even though you don’t get too much background information on any of them. The first 20 or so minutes are monster free. It’s all background, getting to know some of the characters, and it’s all a slow build for the monster’s first reveal. Because when the shit hits the fan, you feel like you’re stuck in the middle of this horrific situations with a group of new friends. Of course, the story follows Rob, a young many who has just gotten a job in Japan. His goodbye party is interrupted by the monstrous scream we’ve all seen a billion and a half times in the teaser trailer. While everyone is trying to get out of New York City, Rob is trying to reconnect with Beth, who is trapped in midtown. But the true shining star in this film is a guy named HUD, who appears on camera just a few times. But you will get to know him very well. HUD is the man behind the video camera, documenting the whole thing as it goes down. His running commentary is hilarious, and you will quickly grow to love him. HUD is one of the reasons that Cloverfield works so well. He’s the funny best friend comic relief character that makes most romantic comedies bearable. But instead of being employed to a few funny appearances, the love-able comic relief character is front and center. He is more you than Rob, and maybe it’s better that way. But its so interesting to see a story from the point of view of this type of character. Refreshing even.

Does the handheld format get annoying? Surprisingly, no. Blair Witch used the first person idea as a gimmick. Cloverfield takes the idea, and uses it to tell a story. I really don’t want to give-away any spoilers, even though enough of the film is already online for you to piece together.

Cloverfield is not shakespeare. It’s not a masterpiece. It has flaws (mostly having to do with little conveniences throughout the story (The “they just happen to be there sort of stuff, or the that guy would never let them do THAT sort of stuff. You’ll see what I mean), but it isn’t anything that takes away from the big picture.

Cloverfield is a fun movie. Plain and simple. It’s sit back, relax and go. It’s a roller coaster ride. JJ Abrams wanted to make an American monster movie, and he has done just that. Cloverfield is not a Godzilla rip-off, it’s the reinvention of the monster film. This is the story about characters trapped in a monster film. They aren’t the characters that would be in the big Hollywood blockbuster version, or even an D-level take by The Asylum or Troma. These characters are the people running away from Godzilla. They have no urge to defeat the monster, they just want to get away and reconnect with their loved ones. This is a human story which just happens to take place during this gigantic moment of fear.

/Film Rating: 8 out of 10
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http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/01/16/cloverfield-review/

EDIT: Another review, this time from a fan. Best one I've read so far, very balanced of both the pro's and cons. There are slight spoilers in it though, but only slight.

Rather long review - enjoy.
The review itself is spoilerless, but I'm open to any questions, spoilers or no.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Baconarmy here. Here's a review I just posted on a movie forum. In two words - freaking amazing. Any questions you have about the film that haven't already been answered by the other reviewers, BA's here to do so.

Let's cut right to the chase here - Cloverfield is surprisingly good. I mean, I wanted it to be good, no question. But the fact that Cloverfield has three cinematic curses to deal with - the curse of the internet-hyped movie, the curse of the handicam and the curse of the monster movie - meant that, even with JJ Abrams, master of the ambiguous mystery, having creative control over this, it was going to be a tough ask for it to deliver as promised.

Luckily JJ and the crew brought their A-game to the cinema.

Right from the get-go, Cloverfield aims for doing something that's never been done before. Kicking off with a very shadowy introduction from the US Department of Defense, introducing us to "Case Sightings Designate 'Cloverfield'" (in a style that wouldn't be out of place in a video for Dharma on Lost), we don't get plunged straight into the action - rather, we're introduced to the characters Rob (Michael Stahl-David) and Beth (Odette Yustman), who are apparently preparing for a trip to Coney Island. Then, these events (of April 17, if I remember right) are suddenly interrupted by what we're going to be watching for the next 65 minutes or so - the preparation and execution of a going away party for Rob, which is going to be (as we all know) rudely interrupted by a large, very pissed monster.

That's really all you need to know about the story, because, after that, it gets kinda simple to follow. What's not so simple, however, is the camerawork. All the action we see is from the point of view of the camera - this is no Godzilla with its gratuitous wide shots of the monster cutting to close-ups of Matthew Broderick looking pathetic. What we have here is an incredibly well-executed attempt at injecting life into a flailing genre by taking us down to the streets, down to the little people who tend to get squashed in the movies with little fanfare. Watching Cloverfield is an experience to behold - what we see on camera is a solid, if a little samey, tale of heroism and loyalty amongst friends (and stupid blind love, depending on the reading you take from it), with the monster acting as a sideplot, a mere obstacle in this character-driven film. And director Matt Reeves has done a stellar job, managing successfully to evoke a level of tension not seen in similar monster movies. No monster movie of the last couple of decades has anything on the tension and genuine mystery this film creates.

But, once you get past the handicam work, things do start to look a little cliched. The actors, while doing the goddamned best they can under the circumstances, struggle just a little with the fact that their characters are a little two-dimensional for us to feel sympathy for their problem. If you've been following the viral marketing campaign, like myself, you will find it a bit easier to connect with the characters and feel a little sympathy and regret when Reeves and Abrams begin mercilessly killing them off. However, Reeves' characters aren't given anywhere near enough time to develop, and when they do, it's a very clear, clean-cut development, with no intricacies in the personalities at all. You get the relationships, you get the quirks - and you get nothing else. And while some may moan that this is expected, Abrams, Reeves and screenwriter Goddard have all had good experience in the character development field, with Felicity, Alias and Lost all under their belts. It's a pity they cannot transfer this to the big screen.

Nevertheless, in spite of this lacklustre character development, the film's biggest strength is not the handicam work, nor is it the monster (which, quite frankly, is f***ing AMAZING, and one of the scariest things I've seen in a while) or the superb SFX that Reeves and his crew have eked out of a $35mill budget. In fact, the film's biggest strength is its pacing and restraint. As previously mentioned, Reeves plays the audience like a pro, ensuring that everything is tense enough without us getting too pissed off because we're seeing and being told nothing. There is no backstory to our monster and there is very little backstory for the characters who get it, but we don't care. We're too caught up in gripping the edges of our seats, because Reeves' building of tension is so wonderfully even, with every major setpiece being delivered just before we starting to tire of our 'heroes'. This is best exemplified in the centrepiece of Cloverfield - the big ol' monster. All through the film, from around 20 minutes in till around about 10 minutes before the end, we catch glimpses, see unfocused shots, here about the sheer terror of the main monster. Yet, Reeves manages to pace all these moments out evenly so that we're given tantalising tidbits, keeping us waiting happily until the very end, when we get a (very, very scary) look at the monster. And in another example, there is a scene in a darkened subway tunnel where the only light is the light on the camera. However, when the characters here a clicking sound, they fumble with the night vision on the camera for a minute, before it turns on, and a fantastically-framed, if a little cliche, scene is revealed, guaranteed to evoke a breathy "Oh my God" or somesuch exclamation of surprise.

Also notable of this film is the strong sense of irony that pervades it, from the heroics/blind stupidity of Rob and co.'s actions, to the contrasting of the scenes involving Rob and Beth going to Coney Island and the monster laying the smackdown on NY while these same heroes are cowering in fear, to the army's reluctance to do anything army-like because of the sheer size of and danger posed by the monster, even if it would mean saving lives. It's a surprisingly well-told fable of the irony of life in general, and how even the nicest person can get rained on by crap (or, in this case, something much more sinister - but I'll leave you to find out what during the movie). The ending, in particular, wonderfully evokes this concept, and you'll sit there for a while afterwards pondering it all.

Cloverfield gives nothing concrete to the viewer, and expects everything from the viewer in return. Normally, this kind of arrogance would be frowned upon, but when the film is a masterfully ambiguous, fascinatingly-shot, superbly-paced monster movie such as Cloverfield, such arrogance can be forgiven. May JJ continue to screw with our minds for years to come.

4/5

Btw, wait til the end of the credits (which are actually quite slow) - there's something (a little something, but something) at the end. And sorry if the review is long. I just had a lot to say.
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http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23648

Misatokitty · Jan 17, 2008

Yeah, I saw it about half an hour after you posted this. Loved it. Loved the Trek teaser trailer attached to it. Not going to spoil it or say anything, though... mostly because I'm up way too late atm and have to shower and get to bed for work in the morning... gah... up in 6 hours, I'm an old man

Ra88 · Jan 17, 2008

Misatokitty said: ↑

Yeah, I saw it about half an hour after you posted this. Loved it. Loved the Trek teaser trailer attached to it. Not going to spoil it or say anything, though... mostly because I'm up way too late atm and have to shower and get to bed for work in the morning... gah... up in 6 hours, I'm an old man
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Very nice. BTW, was "that" scene with Clover/Mister Grumpy Pants as intense as they say it is (you know what I'm talking about )?

SPLIT LIP · Jan 17, 2008

Tomorrow's my birthday and we were going to go see it, but instead we're going tuesday.

I still can't wait.

Misatokitty · Jan 17, 2008

Ra88 said: ↑

Very nice. BTW, was "that" scene with Clover/Mister Grumpy Pants as intense as they say it is (you know what I'm talking about )?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure; there are more than a few intense scenes. Pretty much anything with Clover in was intense. Cinema shook ^^ But there were a few standout scenes with the Big C... you'll know exactly what I mean when you see it.
SPOILER!
The bit outside the subway entrance, and the bit at Central Park at the end where ... I've forgotten the cameraman's name... has an up close and intimate session with Clover stand out. And Clover coming up out of the dust and rubble after being attacked towards the end... you'll know it when you see it... yeah. Was all good.

Exploding people!

Harbinger · Jan 17, 2008

yeah i liked it. i just dont think i could be bothered watching it more then once. why? cos i like info on my monsters not guesswork from a cameraman as he climbs up a stairwell following people.

if i did, i know the parts i would skip and what parts i would love to see again.

i might try it again later on, mainly cos Clover is a unique monster and his design is highly interesting.

AutobotMaximal · Jan 17, 2008

I Cannot Wait To See This Movie!

Dirge121 · Jan 17, 2008

Aaaagh! Still weeks before it comes out over here.
Damn, Damn, Damn!

Paladin · Jan 17, 2008

I still don't get what the appeal is for this movie.

It's just "Blair Witch" with a monster, nothing more.

Eric · Jan 17, 2008

Paladin said: ↑

It's just "Blair Witch" with a monster, nothing more.
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I agree wholeheartedly. Blair Witch was perhaps the biggest disappointment in cinema history. All it was was a bunch of people running around with a camera, saying something about some witch, and the ending was just ass.

Cloverfield looks about the same, except the witch is a giant, rejected Tokusatsu/Kaiju monster. That doesn't appear AT ALL.

Ra88 · Jan 17, 2008

Eric said: ↑

Cloverfield looks about the same, except the witch is a giant, rejected Tokusatsu/Kaiju monster. That doesn't appear AT ALL.
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AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

*Cough*

Erm, yeah. Sorry, but from what I heard, you see it a lot. Just not it's entire body all at once, appearantly. But you do get to see some....Let's just say rather nasty closeups.

AutobotMaximal · Jan 17, 2008

Just because a couple of you guys "don't see what the draw to this movie is", doesn't mean that there isn't a lot of hype or that it won't be good. It isn't Blair Witch, because it's an entirely different story, told in an entirely different way. I recommend passing judgement only AFTER actually seeing the movie.

transmetropolitan · Jan 17, 2008

Misatokitty said: ↑

Yeah, I saw it about half an hour after you posted this. Loved it. Loved the Trek teaser trailer attached to it. Not going to spoil it or say anything, though... mostly because I'm up way too late atm and have to shower and get to bed for work in the morning... gah... up in 6 hours, I'm an old man
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Okay that seals it. I was on the fence about going to the midnight showing tonight.

Eric · Jan 17, 2008

Ra88 said: ↑

Erm, yeah. Sorry, but from what I heard, you see it a lot.
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How? The whole movie is done in shakey-cam vision, like Blair Witch. Do you have any pics of the Cloverfield monster to prove me wrong? What does the monster actually LOOK LIKE, if he (or she, you never know with monsters these days) even appears at all?

Arcee · Jan 17, 2008

I can't wait to see this. I still watch blair witch every now and then, it doesn't bug me that much.

Ra88 · Jan 17, 2008

Eric said: ↑

How? The whole movie is done in shakey-cam vision, like Blair Witch. Do you have any pics of the Cloverfield monster to prove me wrong? What does the monster actually LOOK LIKE, if he (or she, you never know with monsters these days) even appears at all?
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AIM for the win.

GogDog · Jan 17, 2008

Eric said: ↑

How? The whole movie is done in shakey-cam vision, like Blair Witch. Do you have any pics of the Cloverfield monster to prove me wrong? What does the monster actually LOOK LIKE, if he (or she, you never know with monsters these days) even appears at all?
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"Anyone who thinks Cloverfield’s just a tease has it all wrong. The monster is there on the screen and he’s absolutely amazing to see."
http://movies.about.com/od/cloverfield/fr/clover011708.htm

Are you going to stop demanding people prove you wrong for something that you yourself have no proof of or have even seen?

Eric · Jan 17, 2008

Well, I decided to do some research on the monster, and sure enough, a fellow board member managed to prove me wrong. The monster DOES show up, and more importantly, the monster looks SOOPER SWEET!

Alright, there you have it. I was wrong, everyone else was right. Start throwing bricks at me now, please.

GogDog · Jan 17, 2008

Well, now we have to figure out how long until the monster figures come out. Abrams did say that there was not going to be this contemporary toyline, but there would be stuff to satisfy people who are into collecting stuff like that, especially since this whole this is based off of him seeing Godzilla toys in Japan.

*edit*
Here's the article: LINK

On a Cloverfield Monster Toyline: “The was kind of the conceit for the whole story and now we’ve made this movie and one of the fun ideas was that, even though we couldn’t do all the tie-ins up-front, was the idea that there would be this toy that could be this monster once people are introduced to it. That, actually, has been going on and there will be a monster. It’s not going to be a big merchandising movie, but just for those people who are into that stuff and who are fans of that, there will be a toy. Like in the way that Alien had a toy - that was definitely a huge inspiration for this movie.”
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Ra88 · Jan 17, 2008

GogDog said: ↑

Well, now we have to figure out how long until the monster figures come out. Abrams did say that there was not going to be this contemporary toyline, but there would be stuff to satisfy people who are into collecting stuff like that, especially since this whole this is based off of him seeing Godzilla toys in Japan.

*edit*
Here's the article: LINK
Click to expand...

Reeves has said in an interview that there's already a monsterfigure on the way, though he didn't mention when it will be released or by whom. I hope it'll be a 12 inch figure in any case.

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