Throwback Thursday Review: 'Cloverfield'

My Throwback Thursday Review this week is for Cloverfield as 10 Cloverfield Lane, a spinoff of sorts to Cloverfield, will be released this weekend and I felt it would be ideal timing to review Cloverfield.  I have seen Cloverfield once before, but didn't really remember too much about it so I thought it would be wise to watch it again prior to 10 Cloverfield Lane. Next week I will be reviewing Divergent to correlate with the release of The Divergent Series: Allegiant and I will save The Divergent Series: Insurgent to coincide with the release of the final film.

'Cloverfield' Review

Cloverfield is a found footage film, meaning it is presented in it's entirety from the perspective of a character's camera recording the events as they unfold. Matt Reeves directs and J.J. Abrams produced the film and the two work quite well bringing an intense science fiction thriller. I mention J.J. Abrams not just because of his name-cred but also because you can tell he was very involved in the making of the film despite being a producer and is representative of one of the more engaged producers in Hollywood who remains in touch with his projects.

The production design and visual effects collaborate to bring an authentic perception New York in ruins and the found footage aspect of it certainly enhances them. The film is at time genuinely creepy and has a number of surprise scares that remain spread throughout as soon as the attack on New York begins. The film's monster also measures up with a frightening reveal but don't expect to see it too often.

There weren't particularly any performances that stood out to me as the cast is serviceable as a group of young adults trying to make their way through New York during a monster attack. The film is quite short but you'll be thankful for the briefness, since the found footage means there's plenty of shaky cam and those of you that have read my review of The Hunger Games will know I'm not fond of the technique when it's used excessively. However, I think it's use in Cloverfield actually services the film because it makes logical sense that a person running through New York with a camera would have a shaky recording of the events.

In summary, I did enjoy Cloverfield but I didn't "love" it. The blend of visual effects, production design, and cinematography make the found-footage feel very genuinely frightening, but the film does have it's flaws with a bland cast, none of which are very charismatic or memorable.

Film Assessment: B