Cloverfield

Cloverfield is a very effective goose-bump-inducing movie, if a little forgettable. Someone was finally able to take the idea from The Blair Witch Project to another level. Half of the budget went to visual effects, the other half to Skywalker Sound. Dolby sound is a must. But don’t expect anything serious. The monster and the (great) “Overture” by Michael Giacchino in the end credits seem to come straight out of a 1950s sci-fi flick. (21/01/2008)

An exemplary demonstration of terror and mob psychosis. If there’s any film that the "amateur" POV documentary style suits and looks good on, it's Cloverfield. The *SPOILER ALERT* depiction of the destroyed town and the gradual culling of more and more of the main characters *END OF SPOILER* is truly brilliant. I was exceedingly pleased with how realistic it manages to feel (and at the same time such total bullshit, as a classicist would say). (24/10/2017)

It is a blast, but sometimes the excessive effort to push for authenticity at all costs can be bothersome. After all, there are simply moments when even the toughest journalist, reporter or cameraman wouldn’t be able hold the camera and would run to save their own life. So besides the fact that director, Matt Reeves, basically shouts to the world “look how realistically I filmed this” thanks to these scenes, the film does not suffer from any significant shortcomings. The characters behave quite believably, the chaos and confusion are excellently portrayed, and the sense of unpredictability is brilliant. Only the clichéd subplots of the story (except for the rampage of the monster and the rescue of the loved one – as later revealed) get a bit boring, but among all the explosions, shooting, and falling buildings, there is not much time for it anyway. (23/06/2008)

After watching it a second time several years later, I'm raising my rating because I appreciate above all the fantastic demonstration of the implementation possibilities. Goddard politely circles around genre clichés but manages to profile the protagonists, and Reeves takes the whole thing to a new level with a clever POV, showing only as much of the titular monster as the audience needs, though we’re certainly begging for more. Fantastic special effects and a perfect soundtrack move the film into top form. At a time when polished CGI is the standard, the flying head, the iconic bridge, and the leaning building look like a technical treat from a time yet to come. 4 ½. (07/04/2016)

Great. The creators of Cloverfield exceeded my expectations. A journey around New York has never been so terrifying and intense. But back to the beginning. The introductions to the main characters was done really nicely and doesn’t seem too forced. Definitely the best of the team is Hud. The cameraman who (it seems) had never held a camera in his hands before shows the most important things, adding a suitable commentary to the picture and is really intent on filming this documentary from life. I don’t think I have ever felt such an affinity with a character as I did with Hud. The rest of the cast is fine too, but I won’t go into it too much, to let Hud shine through. ;) And now to the most important thing. The monster seems like it’s crawled out of one of those dark fantasies by H. P. Lovecraft. It really is horrible (Godzilla was pretty in comparison), has no name (in fact we don’t know if it’s a him or a her) and what it does is a dream come true for monster movie fans. He appears suddenly, unexpectedly and at the most apt moments. He demolishes bridges, tramples tanks and still keeps something up his sleeve for the finale. And have I saw that he’s really horrible yet? And that he has big, spikey teeth? And his repulsive followers are almost the same, always turning up at the least appropriate moments (absolute darkness, dark places behind doors etc.). And the hand-held camera is great, draws you into the action and I personally have nothing against it. Quite the opposite. Congratulations, Abrams, congratulations, Reeves. And those readers who haven’t seen Cloverfield yet... GET ON DOWN TO THE MOVIE THEATER! Believe me, this is movie that you just have to see on the big screen. (01/02/2008)