Review: Cloverfield

So, another movie that I've been looking forward to for a while. The thing is, no one has really known what it's about. The production has kept a pretty tight lid on the whole thing, and the only advertisement has been viral marketing on the internet. I mean, everyone knows it's a monster movie, but, what's the story?

Well, I'm here to tell you is that within the first ten minutes of the movie you realize that it's a love story, set among the total destruction of Manhattan by a giant monster from outer space. Yes, it sounds odd, but it's essentially Titanic in a different setting ... and much, much shorter ... with monsters. But the monster really is secondary to the story. The only problem is, the love stroy has a hard time carrying the movie for ninety minutes. There's just too much with the screaming and the biting and the dying to do any real character developement. They tease us with a couple glimpses on the tape, but I wanted more backstory. Anyway it's an entertaining movie. And I think the studio was right to market it the way they did, I don't think they would've gotten the viewers any other way.

It's a decent story. It's well directed. They didn't go for the cheap scares. I personally don't mind when a film doesn't use any 'stars'. The effects are competent. All in all I'd say it's one of the better monster movies that has come out in a long time.



Four Stars