From the J.J. Abrams stable comes the most talked about movie of the past six months. Cloverfield is, as the pitch and poster suggests, Godzilla meets The Blair Witch Project and the shocks are made all the more potent by the trivial world they intrude upon. Due to leave for a job in Japan, Michael Stahl-David spends one last night with his friends, thanks to a surprise party thrown by his brother (Mike Vogel) and his brother’s girlfriend (Jessica Lucas). Then an old flame (Odette Yustman) shows up with a date in tow, prompting arguments and idle gossip. It’s all captured for posterity by T.J. Miller, a guest charged with using a video camera to film testimonials for the guest of honour.
When the soapy proceedings are interrupted by a giant unseen monster, T.J. sees no reason to stop filming. Boom. Here’s the Statue Of Liberty’s head used as a bowling ball. Crash. Buildings are tossed down as though made of Lego. Bang. There goes the neighbourhood and all of Manhattan. It gets worse. The monster produces spawn, horrific entities that owe a little something to H.R. Giger.
The filmmakers have gone to great lengths to obscure the beast and its fallout. Let’s just say that in the true spirit of daikaiju eiga, nothing is explained but just enough is revealed.