Cloverfield

Watched Cloverfield in the cinema last night. A brilliant disaster movie which involves a mysterious monster attacking New York City, the origins nor fate of which are ever revealed. The film is shot entirely from the perspective of a small group of people who are recording events using a camcorder as they attempt to escape and survive the chaos around them.

Although sometimes very difficult to watch due to the jerky camera movements, the constraints that the film makers placed upon themselves by choosing this format have lead to a great deal of consistency with the film. There is no back story, you only get to know what the characters get to know, save perhaps for a few vague news reports from televisions in the background in a few scenes. Most disaster movies are plagued by implausible scientific and/or political back stories, plus equally implausible technology and military strategy, but there’s none of this with Cloverfield and it’s very refreshing. You’re left with many unanswered questions at the end of the film as a result, but that’s the point, you know no more than the protagonists.

I suppose you could describe it as Godzilla done right, although in all honesty I’ve never thought that Godzilla was an entirely terrible film, despite its widespread panning.