roseembolism (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
roseembolism) wrote2008-01-20 12:28 pm
roseembolism) wrote2008-01-20 12:28 pm
Cloverfield Review
I saw Cloverfield, yesterday, and I liked it fairly well. Basic synopsis: That is a DAMN tough camera!
The plot's pretty simple: a bunch of attractive 20-somethings are holding a party for Rob, who is going away to be a marketing VP of a Japanese company. Oh no! Jason gave the camera to the moronic Hud, who tapes over previous footage of Rob with Beth, clumsily hits on the sardonic Marlene, and annoys Lilly to no end. Oh no! Monsters attack! Social Disaster! The movie- or rather Hud holding the camera follows our cast from then on as they navigate their way through a New York that is a battlefield between a monster and the army.. I would not recommend it to anyone who has problems with motion sickness, as the "hand-held" camera is shaken, tilted, dropped, put on the floor, pointed at the sky and floor, and occasionally going out of focus....and I think that's just at the party. Since the camera is following a group of bystanders in a monster movie (the ones you usually see just running away), we only get glimpses of the monster or the larger action. There is no scientist who has trailed the monster from it's origin point, no Raymond Burr to give commentary. Anyway, though I hardly had a great attachment to the characters, I liked the film quite a bit, in that it did actually give the "Beverly Hills 90210 meets Blair Witch meets Godzilla" vibe. I was bothered for a bit by the shallowness of the main cast, until I realized that was intentional- the characters were shallow, wealthy, self-absorbed 20-somethings, who have to deal with a disaster. I thought the opening was brilliant, in that it establishes the characters and relationships very well, and pretty much everything follows logically from that. The 911 allegory actually works not so much from seeing the destruction, but from watching Rob and friends. In the same way that the U.S. was self-absorbed before 911, we have people dealing with the important things; relationships, friendship and making money; and then disaster happens, and suddenly it's a big, scary world. What's interesting is that the "viral marketing" actually reinforces this theme, because if someone follows the internet tie-ins, you get hints-not a full picture but hints- of ominous things happening around the world. Corporate conspiracies, disasters, friends becoming involved, all without the main characters having a clue. It's the same way that people who paid attention to Middle East politics new there was a wave of fundamentalism, but even then observers couldn't see exactly what was happening and the general US population was concerned with the important things: sex, money and parties. Final nitpick: one critical thought was "Damn it, where's your emergency kit!? Go back in the apartment and get it!" Except these are New Yorkers, not Californians, and well, they are self-absorbed 20-somethings. Remember people, in case of kaiju have a fully stocked emergency kit.
The plot's pretty simple: a bunch of attractive 20-somethings are holding a party for Rob, who is going away to be a marketing VP of a Japanese company. Oh no! Jason gave the camera to the moronic Hud, who tapes over previous footage of Rob with Beth, clumsily hits on the sardonic Marlene, and annoys Lilly to no end. Oh no! Monsters attack! Social Disaster! The movie- or rather Hud holding the camera follows our cast from then on as they navigate their way through a New York that is a battlefield between a monster and the army.. I would not recommend it to anyone who has problems with motion sickness, as the "hand-held" camera is shaken, tilted, dropped, put on the floor, pointed at the sky and floor, and occasionally going out of focus....and I think that's just at the party. Since the camera is following a group of bystanders in a monster movie (the ones you usually see just running away), we only get glimpses of the monster or the larger action. There is no scientist who has trailed the monster from it's origin point, no Raymond Burr to give commentary. Anyway, though I hardly had a great attachment to the characters, I liked the film quite a bit, in that it did actually give the "Beverly Hills 90210 meets Blair Witch meets Godzilla" vibe. I was bothered for a bit by the shallowness of the main cast, until I realized that was intentional- the characters were shallow, wealthy, self-absorbed 20-somethings, who have to deal with a disaster. I thought the opening was brilliant, in that it establishes the characters and relationships very well, and pretty much everything follows logically from that. The 911 allegory actually works not so much from seeing the destruction, but from watching Rob and friends. In the same way that the U.S. was self-absorbed before 911, we have people dealing with the important things; relationships, friendship and making money; and then disaster happens, and suddenly it's a big, scary world. What's interesting is that the "viral marketing" actually reinforces this theme, because if someone follows the internet tie-ins, you get hints-not a full picture but hints- of ominous things happening around the world. Corporate conspiracies, disasters, friends becoming involved, all without the main characters having a clue. It's the same way that people who paid attention to Middle East politics new there was a wave of fundamentalism, but even then observers couldn't see exactly what was happening and the general US population was concerned with the important things: sex, money and parties. Final nitpick: one critical thought was "Damn it, where's your emergency kit!? Go back in the apartment and get it!" Except these are New Yorkers, not Californians, and well, they are self-absorbed 20-somethings. Remember people, in case of kaiju have a fully stocked emergency kit.