Film Review: CLOVERFIELD
In Japan there is Godzilla. What about America? Bigfoot? King Kong?
Jaws? All of the above are wrong answers. Starting in 2008 there is
CLOVERFIELD.
CLOVERFIELD opened on January 18, 2008 in more than 3,000 theatres
in the continental US and it made history at the box office: it has the
highest gross of all time among the January releases.
Despite its successful ticket sales, I must advise you that it’s not for
everyone. The woman sitting next to me walked out of the theatre
halfway through the film. And if you’re planning on going to see it, be
sure to empty your stomach in advance.
Let me elaborate a bit. Remember 1999’s THE BLAIR WITCH
PROJECT? If you felt sick watching that, then you’re likely to feel
dizzy because the shooting style in CLOVERFIELD is like a
documentary filmed by a hand-held camera. The constant movements,
as some Canadian audiences claim, can cause motion sickness.
CLOVERFIELD begins with a surprise farewell party for Rob who’s
moving overseas for work. Jason, Rob’s brother, plans the party along
with his girlfriend Lily. Lily asks Jason to film the party scenes and
record testimonials from all the guests. Jason tricks Hud to take over the
filming task and soon enough Hud gets hooked on it. In the midst of the
party a blackout occurs and everyone panics. From then on Hud goes
from filming the special Kodak moments to screaming & running ‘till
you are eaten by the gigantic monster segments. All the footages become
party guests’ last spoken words on camera.
I doubt it if anyone would go see CLOVERFIELD for the cast. Almost all
of the actors are new faces on the silver screen. The film ends with too
many unanswered questions that might call for a sequel in the near future.
Manhattan is often used as a backdrop in all types of films and it seems
like anything goes there. When aliens invade the earth, for some reason
NYC is always the first one to be hit. When global warming is finally
going to destroy the planet, NYC is the first city to go under water too.
In Disney film, ENCHANTED, it’s the land of fairytale in the 21st
century. In CLOVERFIELD it is the disaster zone attacked by a
Godzilla-like monster. And just now Australian-born actor Heath Ledger
was found dead in his Manhattan apartment. He was 28 and the cause of
death is unknown. A rising star has fallen and the world will not only
remember his Oscar nomination for BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN but also
he passed away in Manhattan.
Summing up CLOVERFIELD in one sentence, that is when THE BLAIR
WITCH PROJECT meets ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK.
(Release date in Taiwan: Friday, January 25th)