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Chris Vannini
Last summer I was put on the edge of my seat after seeing a preview for a movie that excited me and perplexed me. All I was able to gather from the preview was that the movie was called “Cloverfield,” something attacked New York City and the movie followed a group of people in their 20s. Six months later and still I didn’t know much more about what was going to happen in the movie. The producers of the film did a very good job at not revealing too much about it. People were only able to guess what would happen. I walked into the theater excited to get all the answers but I left with almost as many questions as when I entered. The biggest aspect that makes this movie so interesting is the first-person camera angle. The whole film is shot from the perspective of a man holding a hand-held camera. THIS IS NOT FOR THOSE WITH WEAK STOMACHS. You will most likely feel dizzy at some point in the movie. I began to feel dizzy within the first ten minutes, but I got used to it as my stomach settled down. This was similar to "The Blair Witch Project" but overall the style of filming made the movie much more believable.
The acting was very good, but I’m not sure how difficult it was to act in a movie like this. These actors simply acted as normal people in their mid-20’s would. The script wasn’t difficult. There were no outrageous lines that would test an actor’s abilities. The fact that the film used unknown actors was more effective at capturing the audience emotionally. I, along with my fellow movie-goers, felt that we knew these people who were running for their lives. Did the producers do that on purpose? If they did, it worked. The main focus of the movie is surviving in New York City, but the minor plot is a love story. After the initial attack, Rob Hawkins learns that Beth, an old fling, is stuck in the city and can’t get out. He decides to head into the heart of the trouble and try to save her. I thought the film did a good job at mixing to two stories. I’ll go more in-depth about the plot in the spoilers part of the end of this article. It’s for those who want to know what happens, but don’t want to see the movie. One of the more interesting aspects of the whole story are the fake Web sites put up that played along with the movie. For example, all the characters have their own MySpace pages. Here is the main character, Rob Hawkins’ page All of Rob’s top friends are also characters in the film. The movie begins at a surprise party for Rob, who is leaving for Japan to take a job. On Facebook, there is an event for this party, titled “Rob’s Going Away Party” Most of the wall posts for this event are random people wishing Rob good luck in Japan. Since anyone can write on this wall, it was very interesting to see fans of the film playing along with the story. All these sites along with the style of filming help the audience feel an emotional connection to the characters which makes the film much more effective. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxSPOILER ALERT!xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Now this is an overall synopsis of the plot. The city is attacked by some sort of giant alien monster. You never learn exactly what it is or how it got here. This is just one of my unanswered questions that I had. After the death of his brother, Jason, Rob decides to go into the middle of the trouble to try to save his old girlfriend, Beth. Three of his friends – Hud, Lily and Marlena – decide to go with him. On the way, they are attacked by miniature versions of the monster and Marlena is bitten. They reach a military safe zone where Marlena is taken by soldiers and suddenly explodes. The remaining three tell a soldier that they must leave to save Beth. The soldier tells them when the last helicopter will leave the city, giving them the time to save Beth. They reach Beth’s apartment and pull her from the rubble. They return to the area where the helicopters are taking off. Lily gets on the first helicopter and leaves. That is the last time you see her. Rob, Beth, and Hud get in the next helicopter. While in the air, they are hit by the monster and their helicopter crashes. They all survive but when they wake up, Hud is killed by the monster. The movie ends with Rob and Beth hiding under a bridge as the military begins bombing New York City. The site www.1-18-08.com has a compilation of several photos that appear to be taken during the fictional attack. There is one picture that shows two whales who appear to have been bitten, perhaps this means that the monster came from the ocean. Now with so many unanswered questions, the movie was completely left open for a sequel (which I am praying for). Lily survived which means she would probably be the main character in a sequel. Did Rob and Beth survive? What was the monster? How did it get here? Did it survive the bombs? What happens to New York City? The most impressive part of the movie was the action, not the plot. The lasting impression of unanswered questions made the movie so compelling. I loved this movie and it lived up to my expectations for the most part, but if there is no sequel then the movie will go down in history as random, incomplete and pointless. Questions? Comments? Contact Chris Vannini at vanninic@msu.edu |
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