Blair Witch Meets Godzilla

Last year, youtube viewers were buzzing about a new trailer film from producer JJ Abrams. The trailer was a handycam shot of a birthday party and really looked like usual videos that are uploaded to youtube.

But then, suddenly, there's an explosion (or something like it), then everything was chaos, and we could see the Liberty statue missing her head. That's it. No title, no further explanation.

I think that was a brilliant marketing campaign. It went to number one film that I want to see this year. But after the film was released, I realized that this film was not for everyone.

Cloverfield is Blair Witch meets Godzilla. It is a film about monster (like a sea creature type of Godzilla), with Blair Witch's documentary style. With extremely shaky camera movement, many audience felt dizzy after watching it.

But not me. I really enjoyed the camera work (which was shot with a high def digital video cameras, and not an actual handycam), and the jump cut editing that is made it to look like a video cassette tape being used for the second time.

Unlike Godzilla, the monster is not the center of attention here. It's just a backdrop, a critic said. And that's what set this film a part from other monster films.

While the cinematography may not be appreciated much (but I do), the visual effects must be. The shakiness of the footage must have been a great trouble for the artists. But they made it. Though the monster have minimal appearance, the chaotic and destroyed Manhattan looks real and frightening (especially for bringing back memories of 9/11).

The film is well acted and though it's kind of felt like there is no plot, the story (or events?) flows. Dialogs are witty and sometimes funny, especially when said by Hud (a character who is mostly 'behind the camera' and can only be heard, not seen).

Though not original, Cloverfield is different. And it's so refreshing to see something different out of Hollywood. I begged for more when the credits rolled (it's only under 90 minutes, which is logical because 90 minutes is the maximum duration of a miniDV tape).

I like it.