Cloverfield (2008)
Cloverfield (2008) presents a simple story via a video tape found in what used to be Central Park in Ney York post an alien attack. Right from the opening scene you expect to see some torn down wasteland occupied by an army with a no tolerance attitude. Or maybe that was just me? What you do see for the rest of the movie though is the very same video tape as it’s being watched by someone we don’t know and never will meet.
The movie is shot with a handheld style giving us extremely weird angles and often falling, spinning, climbing and jumping with our characters. This might get annoying to some, especially when you realise that the whole movie will be like this, but it does work. It puts you in the scene with our characters and via some timely editing tells us a love story. It is Hollywood after all. I’m just surprised we didn’t see a sex scene somewhere in the middle. I’m sure they tried to fit it in but failed and gave up. I did find it annoying that all the characters and even the filler crowd at the party were perfect twenty somethings. C’mon America. Where are the fat people running away from the aliens with a gallon of Coke in their hands?
I must admit I did enjoy this movie. It might have something to do with my good mood at the time but I won’t take away from the ok acting and somewhat unique format. The use of a video tape found post an alien attack to tell a story and leave your imagination running wild and hoping for more was… fun.