Cloverfield – Review
Alright! So, i’ve been waiting for this movie since the first teaser came out. I was pretty excited. I thought the movie could be the chance to try out and create something new. And sure enough they did. It definitely became not the usual movie that you see on the big screen in theaters and it has my recommendation to everyone who is either interested in fx movies or ‘realistic’ movies!
That’s how all the “big monster hits big city and flattens it” movies should be like. So far all these movies were shot from the kind of ‘outside’ perspective. As we all know the most significant difference to other movies in cloverfield is the camera. And literally… it made me sick! I have to say though that we might have been too close to the screen. However… the shakyness was required for the movie. All the destruction (awesome sound!), the shaky camera and the dirty look really created an atmosphere that sucked you in. It really made you feel like you’re part of the happening. Like you were ‘inside’ the story.
I mentioned ‘realistic’ up there. And the happenings truly are. Only the story is a bit weird at times. I will not go into too much detail here since there might be people who haven’t seen the movie yet. Whatever… some parts bothered me. There were several scenes where i would have said “kiss my ass dude, i know you’re my best friend… but… i’m gone – good luck!” – i would have runned the shit out of my legs… primary target: survival. But the characters in the movie decide otherwise and do what they are doing. It’s not that i don’t understand why they do it… but maybe i’m a coward or whatever lol… i would try to get out of the city asap.
The movie is considered a ‘low budget’ production. I wouldn’t say that $30.000.000 are low budget. Nonetheless nowadays… it is. Sound crazy to me… but it’S the truth. $30.000.000 are nothing when you have a king kong with $300.000.000. Of course most of the money went into the fx. And i must say that they did a very awesome job! Only the big monster could have been a bit more detailed. It just looks a bit ‘flat’ with its texturing. Nonetheless they don’t over exaggerate it with the fx. They used them wisely and that’s what makes to movie so good. They don’t say “now you have to say WOW! ’cause our fx are so awesoome!”… they want your own wowzers when the big moments kick in in the movie.
Finally i must say that it’s definitely not ‘everyones’ movie. It’s a very rough ride… especially because of the shaky cam and last but not least because of the very realistic look and feel of everything. It has my recommendation anyway. From my pov the movie IS a ‘must see’. I watched it today with my mom and a friend (female too). My friend was very skeptical and actually did not want to see it really. My mom is a very hard case when it comes to movies. With this movie it actually was different… she said she liked it lol and that’s like the first time that ever happened when i was watching a movie with her in the theater. Even my friend was surprised how intense the movie was… and she really liked it. Especially the realistic aspects of it.
That said… well… do what you want with that information. I have had a good time with that movie. It was exciting, very exciting and very refreshing.
8.0/10
Cloverfield on IMDb
