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. (22/01/2008)

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. (02/02/2008)

When original ideas were being distributed, Abrams and his gang were ahead of the game. How else can one explain that a story of a worn-out genre, filmed using a technique proven since the forests of Maryland, can transform into a perfect hit only with the help of a veil of mystery, attracting crowds who gladly devour it? An amazing experience that, with its suggestiveness, didn't let me properly sleep on the day of the screening. (22/02/2008)

Cloverfield is an obvious mix of The Blair Witch Project and Godzilla, taking the best and the worst from both of them. The entire film is shot with a handheld camera, so those who hate shaky images need to consider whether they should invest their time in it at all before watching it. The film's running time is perfectly adequate – an hour and a quarter – and I wasn't actually bored, why the 3* then? To be honest, I was a bit more annoyed with our famous "cameraman" who filmed everything, everyone and everywhere, but then again, there would have been nothing to watch. I didn't like the script either, but the look of the monster and the CGI action scenes were excellent. In short, a film that no doubt deserves a large fanbase, but I didn't find my way to it, which in this case is a shame. (01/07/2011)

A demonstration of an ineffective effect. For most of the short runtime of the film, I felt that I was witnessing the realization of a typically sparse screenplay of a disaster film, which was cleverly wrapped in refined technical means and served to the audience raw. Unfortunately, this does not change the fact that under the raw packaging, Cloverfield is baked, in some places even burned. In fact, the technical design must also be seen in the context of the time period - just look at the extent to which the handheld camera dominates, for example, in contemporary American series. From this perspective, producer J. J. Abrams perfectly found the pulse of the time period and presented the audience with a film with a familiar appearance and content that fully suits the current obsession of people with feeling threatened. Unfortunately, Cloverfield is no more than wrapping, and even this wrapping only plays on the first signal. This film is only image and sound. Bad characters, affected actors, no content. Although this is undoubtedly a quality genre film, the way in which the film's carelessly obscured conventionality shines through disappointed me. Despite my modest expectations... [6/10] (28/01/2008)