Cloverfield

By: Martyn Pedler
Date: 25th Jan 08
Format: Cinema
Mood: Epic

What:
Cloverfield

When:
Out now

Where:
Everywhere

Watch the trailer:
Here

Blockbusters suffer from the tyranny of low expectations. How many times did you hear someone dismiss the gaping flaws of Transformers with “yeah, but it had giant robots fighting, so who cares?” We care,damn it. We want mass destruction with some thought behind it.

Thank Godzilla that Cloverfield is everything Transformers was not. You’ve got the gist already. A colossal monster attacks New York, all captured in shaking street-level handicam by a panicked group of friends - but this is more than just the sum of its gimmicky parts. It’s visceral, fun, frightening, and pretty much note-perfect.

Viral marketing got old fast, huh? Unlike producer JJ Abrams’ other TV work like Lost, the deluge of cryptic Cloverfield clues scattered online don’t matter in the least - except that perhaps transforming backstory into internet puzzles lets the film do away with all unnecessary information. It’s streamlined at just 90 minutes, no moment wasted, avoiding the two-and-a-half-hour blockbuster bloat.

Cloverfield is Godzilla, Blair Witch, Saving Private Ryan, and playing Half-Life at 3am with the lights off. (It is not, however, Voltron.) Still not convinced? Stay through the credits. The rousing final overture is called “Roar!”

By Martyn Pedler