Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Cloverfield’

Written by Scott Edwards 

​One of the things that goes with living inside a big city is that you get to live in a high-rise apartment. Sometimes I am happy that I live on the outskirts since I have a terrible fear of heights, but at some point, I will have to face my fears and stay on a top floor of one of these buildings. Although I know that these buildings are safe for the most part, I have also watched too many movies where they end up on the ground. I know it is not the building's fault, but if aliens come and blast the city, an earthquake hits or a giant monster comes barreling down the street, there is no safety in any building. At this point, I would rather live under the streets, at least there you have other options outside of sitting on the couch as your fiftieth floor apartment falls to ground level.

It is Jason’s final night in New York before he makes the big move to become Vice President of his company and moves to Japan. Knowing that he has to be sent off in style, his brother Rob and his girlfriend Lily have plans to throw the greatest going away bash for him. Walking in and seeing all of his friends, Jason is blown away by the surprise and jumps right into the party mood. Talking to his best friend Hud, Jason sees that a face from his past has come to the party as well. After a great day a couple of weeks ago, Jason has not called or talked to Beth about his feelings or what happened on that fateful night. As the rest of the group finds out what happened, they want Jason to make the sacrifice and tell Beth how he really feels, but he dismisses her and she leaves on a sour note.

As the party carries on, the news has a report of an earthquake by the bay and an explosion is heard. Wanting to get a better vantage point, the group head up to the roof of the building to check it out and see a building explode in the distance. As the debris from the exploding building starts to fill the sky, the group evacuates the building and make their way to the street, only to witness another explosion and the head of the Statue of Liberty being hurled towards them. Upon inspecting the head, people start to see what looks like claw marks on her face but have no idea what could have caused it. As more buildings start to fall and debris clouds start to get heavier, a low growl is heard in the distance and a strange figure is seen. Having to get off of the street to avoid the debris and whatever is walking down the street, the group ducks into an electronics store, only to feel the ground shaking as whatever it is outside passes by.

Thinking that he knows what it is, Hud breaks out the tape and shows everyone what he thought he saw. With nobody believing it, the city is under evacuation orders and the group makes their way to the bridge to get off of the island, but the creature is there as well. Smashing the bridge with its tail, the creature is moving quickly around town with little opposition. Getting a call from Beth, Jason finds out that she is trapped in her apartment and not able to move. With Beth becoming his overall obsession, Jason takes his friends Lily, Hud and Marlena on a trek uptown to save her. Trying to stay out of the military’s way and out of the footsteps of whatever the creature is now walking the streets, the group gets to see how ineffective weapons are against this behemoth. Having to duck off of the street and use the subways to travel, everything seems fine, but there are terrors that the group does not know about yet as the news and the military are finding out more about this creature as time goes on.

Sometimes I hate the found footage movies, but this one I actually liked upon watching it again. The thing I like most about it, is that it is all shot by the one camera and there is no jumping from cell phone to video camera and back again. The thing I did not like about the movie was the exact same thing. Several people had a hard time with the shakiness of the camera work, making them dizzy while sitting in the theater. Besides that, it was a pretty good monster movie. I really enjoyed how the characters played off of each other and how they were able to pull together to reach their one goal. As people are lost along the way, it is sad, but they continue to press on to make sure their friend’s lives were not lost for no reason. I really loved the ending and it was left open for a sequel, which looks pretty darn good as well. I hope to never encounter are giant monster in my lifetime, but if I do, I now know that guns will only make it mad, and I might have to try a different tactic to survive, maybe try to feed it or something. Happy Viewing.

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