Cloverfield

Feb 1 2008 by Evening Chronicle

(15, 84 mins) Sci-Fi/Action/Thriller. Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, Odette Yustman, TJ Miller

WITH increasing numbers of films flooding our cinemas, opening weekend box office takings have become increasingly important in determining the success of a feature.

So it’s no surprise that the film companies spend hundreds of millions every year trying to lure us to the multiplexes.

Cloverfield bucked the trend. Intriguing, anonymous teaser trailers began to infiltrate the internet six months ago, showing amateur footage of a farewell party that is interrupted by a devastating attack on New York, resulting in the head of the Statue Of Liberty crashing through the city streets.

In this increasingly web-savvy age interest in this mysterious film mushroomed, yet Cloverfield maintained a veil of secrecy over the plot and the monster responsible for the earth-shaking carnage.

Shot predominantly on handheld cameras, Matt Reeves’ film centres on Rob Hawkins (Stahl-David), who is preparing to leave behind his brother Jason (Vogel) and good friends to live in Japan.

One such buddy, Hud (Miller), agrees to document festivities at the leaving party on a camcorder.

Celebrations are rocked by a huge explosion, panic grips the city and Rob and his chums become embroiled in a fight for survival.

Hud dutifully documents everything with his camera and Cloverfield almost lives up to the hype.

Director Reeves delivers some thrilling set pieces, including a terrifying encounter with beasties in subway tunnels, filmed using infrared.

Scenes of the monster’s rampage are similarly impressive and there’s a nice jump-out-of-your-seat scare in the closing minutes.

Shooting the film from the perspective of the survivors sustains the tension, while performances from the cast are believable, though the plot has a few inconsistencies.

However, if you’re willing to accept a hideous behemoth reducing the Big Apple to rubble, then no suspension of disbelief is too great.

SWEARING, NO SEX, VIOLENCE