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Cloverfield – How different is it from Godzilla?

Posted on the January 26th, 2008 under Screen Talk by Razlan

Ever since I read about the effective viral marketing effort of Cloverfield, I have been very intrigued about the movie. The word-of-mouth is that the trailer and posters and all other advertisements promoting this “monster” movie gave no clue about what this movie is all about.

Most deduced that it is a monster movie, but have no idea what monster is that. Many drew comparison (and speculation) to the movie Godzilla. Thousands of blogs speculate what Cloverfield is all about.

Whenever I come across postings on my blogroll talking about the movie, I quickly skip through it. I don’t want any spoilers, and I want an authentic virgin monster experience with the movie Cloverfield.

(Incidentally, the word Cloverfield doesn’t mean anything. Nothing related to the monster at all. It is just a code name given by the U.S. Government to the monster attack on New York City)

Here’s a little synopsis of the movie Cloverfield:

“Five young New Yorkers throw their friend a going-away party the night that a monster the size of a skyscraper descends upon the city. Told from the point of view of their video camera, the film is a document of their attempt to survive the most surreal, horrifying event of their lives.” – Source: IMDB

So I went to catch the movie at Cineleisure yesterday, and boy… am I in for a treat! Right from the word go, I was mersmerised by the portrayal on how young New Yorkers live in the big city. The party, the friends, the career, the love affairs. It gave me an insight on what I might get myself into in a few years’ time.

And then the first boom resounded throughout the city, and the horror began.

I was gripped entirely, my mouth often agape in astonishment as the plot unravels. My partner’s hand must have been in pain after I squeezed it so many times!

I won’t get into the plot of the movie, hence giving away the story. But what struck me about Cloverfield is not the storyline. The plot is old – monster attacking a city, everyone scrambles for their lives, military swoop in to save the day, yada yada.

Cloverfield, however, took a drastically different tack compared to its predecessors in its genre. Instead of great cinematography, famous celebrities, huge film editing and big-orchestra soundtrack, Cloverfield was told from the point of a videocam held by one of the characters.

What you get is a Blair Witch Project style of movie. And lots of actions and horrorifying surprises told by the cast… you felt that as if you are right there with them.

And, be warned. There is no ending. Cloverfield concludes with the final two characters got stuck at Central Park, as the monster and US military had a showdown literally on top of them. Then their world crumbled, and the camera got buried among piles of debris. It was later found, and code named as Cloverfield.

Most people will either hate or love the movie. For one, if you have motion sickness, please do not watch the movie. You’ll get all dizzy by the end of it. Also, if you expect all movies to have a great start and a great ending, then don’t bother either.

I love the movie simply because of its excellent movie angle, not the plot.

So…

Was it worth the weekend ticket price? Definitely yes
Will I watch the show again? No
Will I get the DVD? No

Related links
Official Cloverfield Movie Site
Official Cloverfield trailers on Apple.com
Cloverfield trailer on YouTube.com
Cloverfield on IMDB
Cloverfield on Rotten Tomatoes