A Godzilla-like creature attacks NYC on the night of budding professional Rob’s going away party. The action unfolds through the lens of a camera that had been shooting the party. The citizen journalism concept is fresh, but the powers behind Cloverfield weren’t ballsy enough to follow through on it, resulting in a movie with some serious identity issues.
The shoddy camera work is believable most of the time, but beneath the disguise of reckless
zooming and a shaky frame lays a piece of high budgeted, overly produced crap. Just how bad is it? When the group is about to be attacked by a couple of computer-generated spiders, rising action music begins playing in the background. Later, when the group finds Rob’s love interest Beth and pulls an iron rod out of her impaled body, she hops up, and without any noticeable ailment, runs off with her rescuers.
There’s more cheating. In a couple of shots during the two final scenes, the handheld camera seems to magically float in the air to capture its target. This shift from first to third person shows that director Matt Reeves was willing to sacrifice legitimacy for a few more seconds of action.
Anyone considering seeing Cloverfield should mull over the alternatives. For a similarly brainless dose of NYC post-9/11 apocalyptic hysteria, rent The Day After Tomorrow and save a few dollars. To see the home video movie done right, just watch The Blair Witch Project again.
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