Cloverfield



Cloverfield is an American found footage sci-fi/thriller following a group of friends that venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging alien-like monster attack. Cloverfield was directed by Matt Reeves and written by Drew Goddard. This film was first released on January 18, 2008 and has a run-time of 85 minutes.

This film served as the first instalment of the Cloverfield Franchise, followed by 10 Cloverfield Lane in 2016 and The Cloverfield Paradox in 2018.

Plot
The first scene or title screen we see is a watermark of the "United States Department of Defence" stating that the film was recovered at "incident site US-447" the area "formerly known as Central Park" and the multiple sightings of a case designated "Cloverfield".

As we move on, we see the start of Rob's recorded film of his day (April 27th) with Beth McIntyre. Then, the video cuts to the 22nd of May as Rob's brother, Jason, and his girlfriend, Lily, talk about how she wants him to film testimonials for Rob during his surprise going away party, as he is moving to Japan for his new job. Jason, not happy with the task, gives Rob's friend, Hud, the camcorder to film the testimonials.

After Rob's surprise, Beth arrives with a new man, Trevor. Rob and her then argue over her guest and she decides to leave. A few minutes later, a supposed earthquake strikes, causing a brief citywide power outage. As they turn on the local news, a reporter states that there has been an oil tanker that capsized near Liberty Island.



Concerned and wanting to know more information, the party-goers go up to the roof to see if they can see what is happening. As they do this, there is a huge explosion from across the city and debris flying towards them. When they leave the building, the severed head of the Statue of Liberty is hurled into the street in front of them.

Hud then turns around and records an enormous creature several blocks away collapsing the Woolworth Building. After taking cover in a convenience store, the group decides that they have to leave Manhattan by taking the Brooklyn Bridge to the other side. Once on the bridge, the group separates as Rob gets a frantic call from Beth and Jason is pushed forward by the sea of people evacuating. Out of nowhere, the monster's tail destroys the Brooklyn Bridge, killing Jason and several others.

After they run back across the bridge, Rob runs to an electronic store that is already being robbed and takes a phone to call back Beth, as his is dead. The store's TVs show breaking news of the military attacking the monster and smaller 'parasite' creatures falling off its body and attacking nearby pedestrians and soldiers.

On May 23rd, Rob listens to a voicemail from Beth, stating that she is trapped in her apartment, unable to move, as the whole wall has fallen on her. After he hears this, Rob immediately decides to go to Midtown to rescue her. As the group confronts him saying that it's a very bad idea because that is where the monster is, Rob tells them that they can go with the military, but he's staying. After trying to convince him to not go, they all decide to go with him.

Just after the group gets caught in a battle between the creature and the military, they run into the subway and decide to walk along the tracks and surface above ground after they are further away from the monster. They are then soon attacked by several of the parasitic creatures. As Hud is being dragged away by one of these creatures, Marlena saves him, but in turn, is bitten by one.



The four escape the subway and come to a command centre and field hospital. Once there, Marlena starts to bleed from her eyes in reaction to the bite. She is quickly dragged into a tent, where her head appears to explode. Rob, intending to save Beth, persuades one of the military leaders to let him go. The man then tells Rob that when the last evacuation helicopter departs, the military will then execute its "Hammer Down Protocol," which will completely level and destroy Manhattan in an attempt to kill the monster.

After climbing the stairs and jumping onto Beth's building. The group find Beth, impaled on an exposed steel bar. They then pull her off of it and make their way to the evacuation site at Grand Central Terminal, where they encounter the creature once more. Lily is rushed into a departing military helicopter and escapes. Moments later, Rob, Beth and Hud are taken away in a second helicopter and witness the creature being bombed. The bombing causes the creature to fall, but it lunges at the group's helicopter, causing it to crash into Central Park.

Less than an hour later, a voice on the crashed helicopter's radio warns that the Hammer Down Protocol will begin in fifteen minutes. The three friends regain consciousness and begin to flee. As Hud runs back to retrieve the camcorder, the monster suddenly appears and kills him, dropping the camera on the ground. Rob and Beth then grab the camera and take shelter under an arch in Central Park as sirens blare and the bombing starts. Then, they take turns leaving their last testimony of the day's events.



The bridge then collapses and the camera gets knocked out of Rob's hand and buried beneath the rubble. Rob and Beth proclaim their love for each other just before another bomb goes off, with both screaming while the monster roars.

As the video cuts out, we see the final few seconds of the original tape from the camcorder. As Rob films the view from a ferris wheel in Coney Island with Beth, a strange object in the background crashes in the water.

Storyline
Cloverfield is a Godzilla meets The Blair Witch Project hybrid that depicts how it might feel to run around through New York City as it's being demolished by a 20-story-high monster. Not just how it would look, mind you, but how it would feel: the chaos, the sketchy information and speculation. We know nothing more than what's captured on Hud's camcorder. No omniscient insights, scientific explanations or dramatic music to warn of danger. There is never a mood or scene to be set. It's just whatever is happening, is happening.

Due to the film being solely delivered to us via Hud's camcorder's point of view, we aren't able to come to love and understand the characters. You aren't even able to see what they're seeing, so there is usually a pause from one of the characters, followed by an action that is not defined or explained. So even when a main character dies a gruesome death, there's no grief felt, of any sort. As screenwriter Drew Goddard put it, "Once the head comes off the Statue of Liberty, you're not really going to get much of a chance to stop and check in with the characters."

Although, I do applaud the producers, J. J. Abrams and Bryan Burk, for adding the storyline of Rob and Beth. Because of that simple addition, we are able to understand the lengths that Rob went to save her and that we were constantly reminded that this entire film is just a taped recording.

Characters
With the little backstory that I'm given, I do find that Rob and Beth are a good match. Some may disagree, but through the somewhat-apocalyptic circumstances, they do risk their lives for each other and if that isn't the definition for love I don't know what is. Their last words to each other are also "I love you".

Hud is not the adorable and dorky friend you wish you had. He's more like the clingy and obnoxious friend that you wish you didn't have. Throughout the film, there were countless times where his unnecessary yelling and comments were not at all wanted. There were also many times that you'd wish that he'd just put down the camcorder to either get it out of the other character's faces or help. No offence to T.J. Miller, but I also hate the use of his voice in this film. It, in no way, broke the tension with its comedic effect, in fact, it did quite the opposite and had me many times questioning why Rob or any of the other characters didn't just punch him to keep him quiet.

In all honesty, taking into account the numerous pros and cons of this film, I would rate it 6.5/10.

Starring Cast

 * Michael Stahl-David as Robert 'Rob' Hawkins
 * T. J. Miller as Hudson 'Hud' Platt
 * Jessica Lucas as Lily Ford
 * Odette Yustman as Elizabeth 'Beth' McIntyre
 * Mike Vogel as Jason Hawkins
 * Lizzy Caplan as Marlena Diamond