I just caught a midnight screening of Cloverfield at the AMC Boston Common.
There's been a lot of hype surrounding the film, which isn't shocking due to cryptic trailers and somewhat unsettling NYC metro posters.
Thing is, it's good.
Or, I think it's good. It could be the Enviga and TERROR speaking.
I'm not going to be an asshole and spoil it all for you.
I will say though that you KNOW the characters in the movie. They are your friends. They talk and act in a way that your friends would. Be that a credit to Drew Goddard or some sweet improv skills on the part of the actors, I don't know.
Sure some of the film is pretty out there as far as logic goes. And a lot of it is tough to watch.
I have to wonder, contextually speaking, if Cloverfield would have caused me to have such a visceral reaction had 9/11 not happened.
I have to wonder if the film would have been made had 9/11 not happened.
Just so you know, this isn't a film ABOUT terrorism...
I guess just see it.
Especially because Lizzy Caplan from Mean Girls is one of the main actors. She is also the most recognizable and actually gets top billing which is great for her. Go Lizzy!
Oh, and skeptics? Yeah, my advice to you is just see the damn thing before some asshole ruins it for you. Remember how you felt watching the first ten or so episodes of LOST? If you liked the show, you were probably petrified. That's how Cloverfield will make you feel.
And you'll never want to ride the subway again.
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2 comments:
I've certainly been anticipating this flick, but I've tried not to get too wrapped up in the hype. I always try to keep my expectations low with ANY movie (and thusly, I am nearly ALWAYS entertained for $10 bucks and 2 hours)
My assumption was that, much like 28 Days Later, you have this overwhelming, cataclysmic strife as a backdrop for "people like you" to have to deal with.
The initial reviews I've checked out say that it shows the monster and destruction plenty, but the real experience is the idea that you're watching "your buddies" react and deal, while the world comes crashing down around them.
The allegories to 9/11 I find to be rather fascinating. I was discussing Cloverfield with friends tonight, who commented that, "well, it's nice that we're far enough from 9/11 now that we can enjoy watching New York being destroyed again". However I believe that all of these 9/11 comparisons just go to show how latently emotional we still are about those damn towers blowing up.
Cloverfield is about an actual, physical monster from the briny deep, wreaking havoc on a massive scale in NYC.
7 years later we can still be shocked by the events of 9/11, however not just because it was a sensational spectacle, but the sinister and distressing global consequences which ensued.
But when it comes down to it, unless you were there, in New York, all we saw was some buildings blowing up on TV. I don't mean to sound glib or insensitive, but we don't exactly wear "Never Forget Katrina" pins on our lapels, now do we?
So now, we have a movie shot with a handheld camera, set in Manhattan, where things go awry, and everyone subconsciously says to themselves, "well that's a lot like 9/11".
It looks like we're not really over 9/11 after all.
Of course the success of Godzilla movies are based entirely on the shared horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Very good points, Patrick.
A lot of us look at references to 9/11 as trite... thing is, it still hurts. We're not "over it". We're not going to be.
I wasn't in New York when it happened. I was in Boston. All I could do was stare at the TV and wonder what the fuck was going on, why it was happening, who did it, and why.
I think Cloverfield does a great job of recapturing those emotions. The emotions of feeling invaded by something we can't stop or understand.
And, you're right about Godzilla. The Cloverfield monster is to 9/11 what Godzilla was to Hiroshima.
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