Cloverfield

The only found footage movie on our list is here! It's Cloverfield, a movie many people remember but no one talks much about. Let's find out why. I remember being a citizen of the internet in those halcyon days of 2008, and this movie was a phenomenon in certain places. In other places... not so much. So let's talk about this Matt Reeves directed film starring lots of people who had decent careers going forward, including Odette Annable, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, and the film debut of T.J. Miller. 

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Main character Rob has been promoted and is moving to Japan, and his friend Hud is recording people at a party making farewell messages for him. When his friend Beth shows up, it's incredibly awkward because she brought a date.

- An argument begins between Rob and Beth because apparently (we the audience already knew this) they hooked up a few weeks ago and now things are super awk especially because Rob's been in love with her for god knows how long, but this is all interrupted by a massive earthquake that knocks the power out.

- When people go outside to investigate reports of an oil tanker capsizing in the harbor by the Statue of Liberty, an explosion rocks the skyline and sends debris everywhere. This culminates in the head of the Statue of Liberty being thrown into the street in front of us.

- The party is obviously over, and our main characters are now just trying to survive the night. We catch glimpses of the monster, which we'll call Clover, here and there but are primarily running away.

- Trying to cross the Brooklyn Bridge, Clover destroys it with its tail (and kills Rob's brother in the process). Rob receives a call from Beth that she is in danger, and decides to go after and save her. 

- We finally catch a semi-decent look at the obscured creature, and small Parasite monsters fall from it as the military attacks. These things, unlike Clover, are actively aggressive.

- Rob and his friends (who stupidly agreed to join him on his quest) are nearly killed in a battle between the military and Clover. Most of the actual danger is from the military launching explosives, but the giant monster who won't notice it stepped on you is a real concern as well.

- Making it into the subway tunnel, the group has a moment of reprieve where Rob has to explain to his mother (over the phone) that his brother is dead. They decide to walk through the tunnel since Beth should only be about an hour away.

- In the tunnels, the group finds themselves attacked by Parasites. While they manage to fend them off, one of the group (Marlena) takes a disgusting and large bite to her back.

- Discovered by military, the group is taken to a location where survivors are being treated. Marlena begins to bleed from her eyes and is isolated when the military realizes she's been bitten. Once behind a curtain, we see her expand quite rapidly and then explode. The remaining 3 of our group are allowed to leave, but warned that the military is getting one final shot at Clover before all of Manhattan is being "let go."

- Making it to Beth's apartment, they manage to find her unconscious and impaled by rebar. They remove the rod (this is a bad idea kids, don't do it!) and now try to make it to the escape helicopters. Rob even kills a Parasite along the way.

- Once back out on the street, explosions continue to rock the city as Clover is attacked by the military. It's not too far from them, though, and they manage to make it onto an evacuation chopper.

- Once in the air, the group witnesses Clover take several bombs to the back. Right when they celebrate, the monster lashes out and knocks their helicopter out of the sky.

- On the ground, the cameraman Hud gets eaten by Clover, and Rob and Beth exchange "I love yous" as they are rocked by explosions.

Kaiju Notes 

- Clover is only seen briefly on camera and usually in small pieces at a time. It's first appearance is barely the back legs, but makes it clear that it is a massive creature (especially because it takes down the Woolworth Building seemingly by accident).

- The destruction of the Brooklyn Bridge is another example of Clover's obvious power, as it seems to bisect the bridge unintentionally.

- When we finally see as much of the monster as we can, we can see that it has several legs and seems to be vaguely amphibious. The giant maw and fangs don't make it appear friendly, and it has a truly decent roar. It's kinda reminds me of discount Cthulhu, when you take all of its various features into account.

- The Parasites are small enough to be seen directly, unlike the larger monster. They have at least 6 legs and look like some kind of cross between spiders and crabs. They have maws similar to Clover, but obviously on a much smaller scale, and too many eyes. They are quite large, probably the size of a medium to large dog. They latch onto their prey and seem to infect them with some toxin that causes them to explode. Not sure what the purpose of exploding your food is, but it's a movie.

- The monsters in this film seem to work in tandem so there's no sweet versus action, but Clover is clearly a powerful beastie and the Parasites are a real problem anytime they appear. A lot of Clover's actions seem unintentional, but if that foul creature really tried I think it could do some significant damage to anything.

First, a quibble: when the head of the Statue of Liberty is thrown into the street, it hits a building first. This causes a medium sized explosion before the head hits the ground for our camera. But why does it explode? The Statue of Liberty isn't laced with explosives, as far as I know, and most buildings (especially skyscrapers) aren't either. It's probably for dramatic effect, but it literally makes no sense.

Cloverfield is one of the best found footage films I've seen, which makes sense being that it's one of the first (the first?). I know a lot of people have trouble with the shaky cam, but it doesn't bother me so helps me to be entertained. It is also one of the few example of shaky cam that I find tolerable, not because it typically makes me sense but because it typically pisses me off. In a film where the camera is held by one of the characters and they are running from a giant monster, it makes sense that most of the shots are unstable. In a sequence where, let's say, two super spies are fighting in a professionally staged movie, shaky cam just obscures what could be a really cool scene into a random and terrible assortment of semi-discernible shots. Is this about The Bourne Identity and how it sucks? Yes. What does this have to do with Cloverfield? Nothing, shut up.

There's not a whole lot to say about the movie itself. It's entertaining and I liked it, but I don't love it. But Cloverfield is interesting for reasons outside of itself. As I mentioned above, I remember this film being a phenomenon. There was speculation about every aspect of the movie and analysis of any information that was known, including the AR game tie-in and any promo material. A lot of this was based around "where Clover came from" and this is a perspective that I simply do not understand. Maybe this is why I enjoy kaiju movies in ways most people don't? Throw me into a fictional world and let's have the wheels turn, I don't need to know why things are as they are, just that they are. The how is important, because it changes everything that does happen or can happen going forward, but whether Godzilla is an ancient reawakened being, a mutated dinosaur, a mutated iguana, or a literal alien doesn't matter at all to me. Why would it?

But Cloverfield serves as an example that I am the unusual type, apparently. Many changes were even made to the movie/script to make audiences by in more and make implications about origins. If they're correct, audiences are uncomfortable with uncertainty. I don't understand this at all, but it does give me plenty to think about in regards to why films and stories are structured the way they are. Cloverfield, for me, is entertaining but ultimately disposable. But perhaps it became the sensation that it was partially because of its combination of "just enough yet not sufficient" information to guide people to speculate and try to decode the truth. It wasn't something I ever engaged in because for me it was just a movie so why bother, but couldn't one argue that this entire blog is me doing the same thing for a genre rather than any specific film? Possible.

Conclusion: Cloverfield is fun and I enjoy it. Other people really bit into it in a way I don't fully understand but appreciate. If you can handle the shaky cam without being nauseated, you'll be in for a good time with this one. And I would definitely not mind seeing Clover show up in more films. More American kaiju please and also thank you.

Next: Death Kappa!