Redford Review: Cloverfield

This review will be split into two different sections, because really, the movie is in two different sections.

Section 1: The Movie

Let me start by saying this: If The Blair Witch Project had never been made, this movie would have been heralded as the new wave in film making. The homemade camera feel, the choppy edits, the "this is found footage" tagline at the beginning. All perfectly done. Nothing explained afterwards, no outside perspective. Leaves you hanging and wondering what the heck is going on. The biggest problem: The Blair Witch Project did get made. It existed and was pretty well done. Cloverfield was made a lot better than Blair Witch. By leaps and bounds. Quite honestly, the story was better for Cloverfield as well, as much as we know of it, anyway. The effects were thousands of times better. They were flawless, but honestly, its 2008, there really should not be any special effect flaws in a movie with this type of budget. The monster looks great, the injuries looked great. The camera work looked authentic. I really enjoyed this movie. They practicly told you at the beginning where this was going to end, but the whole time, you hold on hope that its going to go differently. At the very beginning, there is a graphic that says that this is the tape found at "Incident site US-447" "fomerly known as Central Park". Ok, so we know that somehow, this camera will end up abandoned in Central Park. Now, we spend the whole movie wondering if the camera will be left by an escaping member of the cast, or if everyone dies and somehow the camera lives on. I won't spoil it for you, so go out and rent it.

As a whole, the film was really good, and I would certainly recommend it. The story flows nicely, although my wife thought that it was totally unrealistic (and not cause theres a huge monster attacking the city). She felt that these people would not risk their lives to get someone who is most likely dead. I countered with the flawless logic that realistically, there is only one monster the size of a building, and all you really have to do is avoid it, so why not take a chance to get save your friend who called you and asked for help. Keep in mind, at that time the characters did not know about the... well, I am trying not to spoil too much.

There is also somewhat of a love story, between Rob and Beth, but it really is more of a plot device to keep the characters in the city during the mayhem, as they pass by several opportunities to leave in order to save Beth. It was fine for a 2nd level love story.

If you are the type of person who totally emerces themselves in a movie and can completely let the outside world go for one hour 24 minutes, this movie will really entertain you and keep you on the edge of your seat. If you didnt get the Blair Witch and always keep your mind rooted on the ground, you're probably not going to get this and will think its stupid. I fall into the first category, so I liked it a lot.


Section 2: JJ Abrams you viral bastard

For those of you completely unaware, JJ Abrams is the creative mind who brought you fantastic television shows like Alias, Lost and Heroes. The one thing that sets him far above the rest of the pack is his ability to help you emerce yourself in the stories he tells. He pretty much invented viral marketing, if he didnt invent it, he perfected it. If you watch Lost, you know that there is the main stories on the island, but there are also stories told everyday online through websites that tie into the show. Cloverfield is no different. At first, all there were were Myspace pages for several of the characters in the movie. Leading up to the theatrical release, they were updated as much as you or I update our page, as if they were actual people. They have pictures and blogs comments and loads of other stuff. The only way you know they are connected to the movie is because they are connected to each other. The good folks at Bad Robot (Abrams production company) "leaked" the existanse of these pages to key bloggers to get the ball rolling. Then, other sites popped up.

Tagruato

This is a website for a company that basically specializes in deep sea drilling. It is also the parent company for several companies that tie into other Abrams projects. Most notably, Slusho!, which is a soda company out of Japan. If you search a little, you will find out that Slusho! was the company that had hired Rob to be the VP of Marketing, which is why he was movine to Japan (the reason for the party at his house).

Ok, cute little tie in, giving a more realistic feel to the movie. Right? Then, in the months leading up to the DVD release, something else popped up.

Missing Teddy Hanssen

Starting in March, this blog popped up on blogspot. It references some of the companies mentioned above and also one called TIDOWAVE which seems to be an enviromentalist organization thats sole purpose is to destroy Tagruato.

I'll let you do some hunting and piece together some clues, but let me point you in the right direction. Teddy Hanssen is the former boyfriend of Jamie Lascano, who has the worlds smallest part in the Cloverfield movie, but figures very prominently in the viral stuff. Check out JamieandTeddy.com.
The password is jllovesth.

Once you dive into this world, its tough to get out. The fact that this stuff is starting to pick up now makes me think that a sequel is in the works, but nothing has officially been announced.

This stuff is truly worth taking a look at, even if you didnt particullay like the movie. Oh, and when looking through it all, make sure you look for comments, they are where the real secrets are hidden.

Enjoy!