So Friday night I go and watch the highly anticipated flick Cloverfield and as I'm sitting in the dark, watching trailers of upcoming drama/thrillers (it's obvious that previews of similar genres are chosen with the intention of setting the mood for the main feature) and waiting for the previews to end, something unexpected happens. Sandwiched between the trailers for Wanted (a new super-agent movie starring Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman) and Jumper was the trailer for Step It Up 2: The Streets. WTF?!
Man, what a scam! The producers of this flick were probably using the hype of Cloverfield on opening night to push this trailer that would probably otherwise go unseen (I watched Cloverfield again on Sunday and the trailer wasn't there anymore; I'll get into that later). Which is pretty clever, but I could just see J.J. Abrams was saying, "Uhh..This movie is about dancing...in the streets, apparently. It bares no resemblance to my movie whatsoever besides the fact that we both use human beings in it and it takes place on planet Earth", and they were like, "I don't care! Who do have to f*ck to get this trailer to show before Cloverfield?!" "Hmm...Step into my office."
Moving on..
Cloverfield plays exactly and entirely as if you were to literally find a camera on the street, pop in the tape, and watch it. There's no soundtrack and no credits until the very end. It's like a long youtube video as it just throws you into the lives of these people and ends just as abruptly, leaving you in the dark thinking, "That was cool...but did I like it?" It goes against the formula that we've come to expect from Hollywood monster Blockbusters and like your favorite movie star crush coming up to you, flashing you, slapping you in the face, and walking away; you'll be sitting there in silence, staring at the ending credits for a couple of seconds trying to process what just happened until you look around aimlessly and exclaim "That was frickin' awesome!"
The only remotely negative thing I can think of is that it doesn't follow the usual Hollywood formula, which to me, isn't a negative at all. It's actually quite refreshing. The special effects were awesome and the actors do a great job in coming across as believable and real, proving once again that there's a lot of young talent and you don't necessarily need big names in a big movie. Using "no name" actors also helped strengthen the dramatic element in that you felt that anyone could die at any given moment.
Yesterday, I got the oppurtunity to watch it again since my friend really wanted to watch it to the point where he was like, "I'll spot you", and hey, I'm not one to turn down a free movie, so why the hell not? So I go in for a second screening, trying to be more critical about the movie and watching it how I'd watch movies in my film classes. The flick ends and I'm still in awe. Great story, great characters, great acting, great job of pulling the audience into this world, great CGI (I was worried that I had built up the monster so much in my head that when they finally showed it, I'd be disappointed..but I wasn't), and just as good as the first time I saw it.
This is most definitely a MUST SEE in the theaters. The only people I can see who wouldn't like this movie are those who hate on any movie that's "different" and those who easily get motion sickness (i.e. just like in Blair Witch) because there's a lot more movement in this flick than in BW. If you're of the latter, I suggest you suck it up and watch the damn thing. If you're of the first group, I suggest you do the same.
NO ONE should miss this flick.
I give it:
5/5 Manhattan destroying beasts.
Man, what a scam! The producers of this flick were probably using the hype of Cloverfield on opening night to push this trailer that would probably otherwise go unseen (I watched Cloverfield again on Sunday and the trailer wasn't there anymore; I'll get into that later). Which is pretty clever, but I could just see J.J. Abrams was saying, "Uhh..This movie is about dancing...in the streets, apparently. It bares no resemblance to my movie whatsoever besides the fact that we both use human beings in it and it takes place on planet Earth", and they were like, "I don't care! Who do have to f*ck to get this trailer to show before Cloverfield?!" "Hmm...Step into my office."
Moving on..
Cloverfield plays exactly and entirely as if you were to literally find a camera on the street, pop in the tape, and watch it. There's no soundtrack and no credits until the very end. It's like a long youtube video as it just throws you into the lives of these people and ends just as abruptly, leaving you in the dark thinking, "That was cool...but did I like it?" It goes against the formula that we've come to expect from Hollywood monster Blockbusters and like your favorite movie star crush coming up to you, flashing you, slapping you in the face, and walking away; you'll be sitting there in silence, staring at the ending credits for a couple of seconds trying to process what just happened until you look around aimlessly and exclaim "That was frickin' awesome!"
The only remotely negative thing I can think of is that it doesn't follow the usual Hollywood formula, which to me, isn't a negative at all. It's actually quite refreshing. The special effects were awesome and the actors do a great job in coming across as believable and real, proving once again that there's a lot of young talent and you don't necessarily need big names in a big movie. Using "no name" actors also helped strengthen the dramatic element in that you felt that anyone could die at any given moment.
Yesterday, I got the oppurtunity to watch it again since my friend really wanted to watch it to the point where he was like, "I'll spot you", and hey, I'm not one to turn down a free movie, so why the hell not? So I go in for a second screening, trying to be more critical about the movie and watching it how I'd watch movies in my film classes. The flick ends and I'm still in awe. Great story, great characters, great acting, great job of pulling the audience into this world, great CGI (I was worried that I had built up the monster so much in my head that when they finally showed it, I'd be disappointed..but I wasn't), and just as good as the first time I saw it.
This is most definitely a MUST SEE in the theaters. The only people I can see who wouldn't like this movie are those who hate on any movie that's "different" and those who easily get motion sickness (i.e. just like in Blair Witch) because there's a lot more movement in this flick than in BW. If you're of the latter, I suggest you suck it up and watch the damn thing. If you're of the first group, I suggest you do the same.
NO ONE should miss this flick.
I give it:
5/5 Manhattan destroying beasts.