Cloverfield

Cloverfield
(spoilers below)

Great take on the giant monster genre. Godzilla meets Blair Witch is hardly a ringing endorsement, but Cloverfield is one of those rare cases of two wrongs making a right. The monster is clearly the star of the movie, but the great thing about Cloverfield is that the focus is kept on human emotion on the street level. Destruction is the film's key selling point, but it's certainly a different breed of carnage with the buildings and the teeth coming down around and on top of you. Surprisingly, the entire cast does a passable job despite the total absence of A-level talent. Lizzy Caplan (of Mean Girls fame) is starting to resemble Zooey Deschanel a bit, so I naturally tend to find her somewhat attractive. As such, I was a little disappointed when she gets bitten, infected, and subsequently explodes midway through the movie. They don't really explain why, which is kind of what makes the flick so great. There's no Morgan Freeman narration to walk us through, nor is there a brainy scientist running around with his "I told you so!" exclamations. As a result, the rampant "wtf!?" reactions from the main cast are sort of echoed by the audience. With Hollywood churning out so many grand, big budget spectacles that fail to engage viewers, Cloverfield is actually a bit of a rarity. Not to build up the film as something that it isn't, because it's still a total popcorn flick, but it's a fun (albeit often nauseating) and fresh movie that'll no doubt be the subject of discussion at many a water cooler tomorrow morning. I'm still a little partial to The Host, the South Korean monster film from a couple years back, but it's pretty awesome that a movie outside of Asia is even close. Definite recommendation for at least a rent sometime down the line, but Cloverfield's the type of sensory overload that's better suited to the big screen. Check it out.