I’ve started the habit of making these blog posts on Wednesdays. This week had to wait until today so I could share my opinions on Cloverfield.

Yesterday morning, a coworker came in with a bunch of free passes to a sneak peak of Cloverfield, a monster movie in the same strain as Godzilla. Skyler beat me to the punch (may contain spoilers) on the review front and I agree with a lot of the things he said. Mostly that the movie isn’t just seen, it’s experienced.

The most impressive part of the movie, I think, is the cinematography. JJ Abrams chose to film the whole movie from the perspective of a hand-held camcorder recovered after this monster attacks New York. Throughout the movie, the small angle of the camcorder added to the suspense, depriving me of my senses. Whenever I wanted to see something on the screen - the monster, things blowing up, etc. - the camera would move away because the guy holding the camcorder would be running away from said danger, and I could only *hear* people panicking, which further increased my own sense of panic.

The camcorder is also used to inject some comedy and drama into the suspense. Early in the movie we learn that the camcorder is actually recording over a tape that’s particularly important to one of the main characters. Occasionally, for one reason or another, the camera stops recording and parts of the previously recorded tape are shown on the screen, as you might see in a home movie that’s been recorded over a few times. These short bits are thrown in strategically during the beginning of the movie for a bit of comic relief, and toward the end for a greater feeling of attachment to the two main characters.

The movie was short, clocking in at under 80 minutes, which is believable considering the battery life on a camcorder. I’m reading a lot of people would have liked an ending with more closure or answers, but I disagree. This was a movie about people trying to save their loved ones and escape a rampaging monster, not people trying to find out what it is or where it came from. I would go on but it would reveal the ending and I don’t want to do that. Other critics say the dialog is too unintellectual. The cinematography, not the dialog, is what makes this movie great. Again these people aren’t intellectuals so they don’t talk like them.

Right now, Rotten Tomato critics average about 70%. I’m hoping that score will go up as more critics submit their scores. I think this movie deserves around 85%-90% as one of the better films in the ‘Giant Monster Attacks Huge City’ genre. I’ll definitely be adding this to my collection.

Speaking of ‘Giant Monster Attacks Huge City’ films, when are we going to see a Rampage movie?