There's been a lot of hype about this film, there's been trailers running for over 6 months leading up to it's release beginning with ones showing the statue of liberty's head rolling down a New York street. Now if that's not something to grab an audience's attention I don't know what is. I have been wanting to see this film for quite a while. All I knew upon entering the cinema was that it was a monster movie and that it was filmed on handheld cameras. My expectations were certainly met and improved on.
The premise is; the protagonist, Rob, is leaving for Japan and so his friends throw him a leaving party, that night an unknown monster hits New York. The film is recorded by Hud, Rob's best friend firstly for leaving messages at his party and then just the events of this attack upon the city. The number of friends within the group slowly dwindles as would be expected within a monster film, and you end up with the usual feelings of hope that some will make it. I won't spoil the ending. Go see it if you want to know!
The actors do very well, and are completely believable in their panic and confusion of events. As relative unknowns (a brief look on IMDB reveals at the most a few films and the odd TV series for each actors) which was purpose casting choice these actors are looking at a future success. Their relationship with each other is believable as they cope with the loss and the unknown situation that they have left others in.
The camerawork is very Blair witch esque. Filmed in a jolty sometimes blurred way it did leave me feeling slightly ill at the end. It did however work well. I particularly enjoyed the way that the audience only know and see as much as the protagonists do, the glimpses of the monster at the beginning of the film leave you unnerved and with the slight feeling of panic about what will happen next.
The special effects worked very well in the film. As usual CGI has made it possible to create a monster like nothing has ever been seen before but yet believable at the same time. The destruction of New York is spectacular. Just the image of the Statue of Liberty's head severed is one that will stay with me for a while. Some of the shots were too September 11th for comfort such as buildings collapsing and the plumes of smoke heading towards the crowd but I suspect this is just what the director wanted.
Overall a very different film to those I've seen before, it worked well being shot on handheld camera's despite the slight queasy feeling I felt by the end. If you can catch it in the cinema, do, because it definitely won't have the same effect on a small screen.
Cloverfield
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