Movie Review - Cloverfield

I come bearing news from Cloverfield. The new JJ Abrams produced, Blair Witch meets Godzilla thriller, has been unleashed and I was there to see it on opening night. Some of my initial feelings might not hold up, but I don't have the patience to wait on putting it up. Here are some bullet points.


-The cast is made up of mostly unknowns and they do a good job of selling the general idea. That's not saying the acting was any good, because largely it was only barely convincing, but they managed to get the point across. -The main narrator was the best part of the movie. He held the camera, provided the comic relief, and largely was the only one I cared about.


-The action started about 15 minutes into the movie and it didn't stop or even think about slowing down for the next 60 minutes...except for one brief moment to conclude a love story.

-I hated the love story. I love many of my friends, but if a monster was coming at me with Mike Tyson style bad intentions I likely wouldn't go back into the war zone to confess my dying love.

-I thought that the movie played too much on the emotions of a post 9/11 movie crowd. The buildings collapsing, the dust storms, the screaming crowds, screams of bloody victims. These are all images that are still too rough. I just felt like the chills were cheap because of this.

-The camera is so shaky that I strongly recommend some motion tablets before you go see it.

-There were some seriously tense moments, usually when the ground shook and the monster lurked beyond buildings just out of sight. At those moments you were able to think about how you would feel if you were really there. Very effective stuff.

-The movie was obviously sponsored by Nokia and Sephora. And apparently a big ass monster is strong enough to knock down major buildings, but smart enough to miss the cell phone towers so that the characters can call their friends...I'm just saying.

I won't say much more because the movie needs to be experienced by each individual. Ultimately Cloverfield manages to accomplish what it sets out to do; entertain and thrill its audience. Now, the grades.


Plot (The Story): 9
Script (The Dialog): 6
Directing: 9
FX / Sound: 10
Casting: 5
Acting: 6
Pacing: 10
Conclusion: 8
Overall Entertainment: 19

TOTAL: 82
MOVIE GRADE: B-


For the record here are the grade ranges:
100 - 97 = A+
96 - 93 = A
92 - 90 = A-
89 - 87 = B+
86 - 83 = B
82 - 80 = B-
You Get The Point
70's = Cs
60's = D's
59 and below is F