Cloverfield is the most hyped movie of 2008, till date, but
I was li'l disappointed.
The movie is about some BIG thing that attacks Manhattan and
destroys buildings. People die and Army takes over. Like any monster/alien attack movie.:) That's not new in a hollywood movie, so why the hype? I'll share you the reason of the
hype, but first the story.
Story
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A group of friends are celebrating a farewell party for one
of their friends who is going to Japan for work. One guy of the group is
recording the party with a hand-held camera(the camera belongs to his friend
who is going to Japan). Suddenly, an earthquake shakes them and they come out
on the street to see what happened. They find everyone is on the street and
suddenly they hear explosions, gunfire and some loud noise. Something comes
flying towards them, wrecking cars, and stops in front of the guy holding the
camera. It's the head of Statue of Liberty with some big holes on the face.
Everyone is scared and starts running in the opposite direction from where the
head came. Suddenly, they see something BIG moving between the buildings and
the army comes from nowhere and starts firing rockets, shells, bullets, on that
BIG thing. All the friends start running to save their lives, when the one guy,
who is going to Japan, gets an SMS from his girlfriend that she is trapped in
father's apartment and needs to be rescued. All the friends agree to save her
and start running towards her apartment. During all this time, the camera friend
(we rarely see his face) records everything, fear and emotions of his friends,
the BIG thing, army's reaction, the city destroyed, and so on.
Will they be able to save the girl in apartment, who all
will live to tell the story, what's the BIG thing, from where did it came?
Watch the movie to find out answers to all these, and more, questions.
Why the Hype?
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All the hype was part of marketing strategy.
The hype is because of two reasons. First, the movie is from
JJ Abrams(producer of LOST and ALIAS tv series). If you seen LOST and ALIAS,
you know how the plot twists in the end and how addictive these series are.
Second, was the secrecy when it was filmed. JJ did not plan
the title of the movie while it was filmed. It was filmed with different names
in Manhattan and other locations. Even some actors did not know what the film
is about when they signed the movie. All they knew that they have to run
scared, looking upwards and trying to hide themselves. When the movie trailers
were ready in July, even then the name of the movie was missing. It was code
named "01.18.2008", the release date of the movie. The name was
announced in November.
Now, with this much secrecy, wouldn’t it create a BIG hype.
:)
Review
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Cloverfield utilizes the POV(Point of View) camera
technique for the entire duration. The movie is presented through the eyes of
the camera and the guy behind the camera. What you get is a self-shot video
from a camcorder. There is no drama of slow-motion scenes, repeat shots, editing,
special effects, etc etc etc. The presentation of the movie is very much
similar to Blair Witch Project and REC.
The movie disappointed me, or should I say the hype
disappointed me. Without hype, it'd been better and bigger hit of 2008. The
movie shows you the expressions, emotions, fear, anxiety of four friends who
are trying to save their lives from something, which they don't know what it
is. The BIG thing is shown in between, but there is no dedicated scene where you
see IT for more than a few seconds.
If you have seen Manoj Night Shyamalan's Signs, where the
focus of the movie were not the aliens, but the family. You did not see much of
aliens in the movie; similarly you won't see the BIG thing here, just the
reaction of people.
The movie is of 65 minutes only, the length of a camera DVI tape. There are no big time actors in the movie, but a few who I've seen in some TV series.
A sequel to this movie is speculated. Let's see.:)
Note
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While you are watching this movie, watch it closely. As
there are no slow-mo shots and no repeat shots, you'll miss a few key scenes,
which affect the story later. And don’t miss the last few seconds of the movie,
before credits. You'll see something happening which answers your biggest and
most important question. Again, don’t leave your seat when credits start coming.
Wait, till the end. There's something you'll hear/see after the credits.
I really wanted to tell you what it is, but it'll spoil your
fun.
