The Monster

The drawing above was the rendering that caused the whole “whale with crabs” theory.  Is it accurate?  Nope.  Cloverfield is not whale shaped at all.  In fact, it appeared relatively boney for its size, but it did drop off smaller creatures.  The smaller creatures did NOT appear as depicted above.  They appeared to be roughly half the size of a human, and Poppy described it best when she said that they were more similar to the bugs from Starship Troopers.  The fact is, you rarely get a good steady look at it.  During some of the aerials, the face almost looked human… but then towards the end there is a close up of the creature while being backlit, and it does not appear human at all.  The creature appeared to have the stature of a T-Rex, leaning forward while moving.  Additionally, it did not just have two arms, but it also appeared to have two other appendages that can best be described as pincers similar to the creature in the Geonosis Arena from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.

The Cast

Now anyone who has a clue about movies like this that follow the Blair Witch model of casting no name actors and actresses really doesn’t expect people to live at the end, right?  Of course, the pre-teen kids proclaimed at the end of the movie how, “Oh just what we wanted, a movie where everyone dies at the end.” Personally I wanted to turn around and tell them to go watch some Ren and Stimpy if they can’t deal with it… but besides the fact they probably never heard of that cartoon either, what’s the point?  For a bunch of no names acting undoubtedly in front of a CGI green screen for alot of shots… I give them credit.  Although it was all aided by the shaky camera composition, there was some more than decent acting… especially at the end where Rob and Beth say they love each other… and then are wiped from the planet in explosions of fire and brimstone.  So, I don’t expect to see any of them again, but what I did see was pretty good.

Imagery

There was the usual outcry because of the “New York under attack is capitalizing on September 11” group.  Normally, I just brush this kind of shit aside… but yeah… the actual imagery was VERY reminiscent of the attack.  No, no terrorist has hurled the Statue of Liberty’s head down the street, but… near the early attack when a building collapses the actors take refuge in a deli/bodega as the debris cloud rolls past them and eventually eclipses everything outside.  This same exact sort of video was seen from numerous cameras 6 years ago during the terrorist attack.  Inspiration?  Not at all.  It was a planned rip off to play on those terrors we feel deep inside.  Additionally, the movie made sure that geographically it was accurate within the city itself… but from where the building collapsed and the deli/bodega was… the cloud should have rolled the other way… to the south with the wind.

The second piece of imagery obviously ripped from that day is the apartment building that Beth supposedly lives in.  It is in fact the Time Warner Towers… which have been compared to the WTC numerous times.  The fact they chose THAT particular building in a city of literally thousands makes you wonder… why?  Of course… its positioning was relatively interesting with one tower collapsing into the other.

So while I’m not going to decry the movie because of its use of imagery, its really very blatant and fulfills their purpose to add a realistic twinge to the film.

Easter Eggs

Okay… so there has been a huge online build up of this movie.  There have been false newscasts, photos, and other clues all around.  There literally is none of it in the film.  So whatever the online link to Slusho, TIDOwave, and Tagruato is still unknown besides the fact that there is some Slusho product placement.  I would suggest following Cloverfield News for any further developements on the sites that have been building the buzz.

In the actual movie there are two interesting things towards the end.  When the movie goes from Central Park to the underlying footage from the day at Coney Island, it opens on the ocean.  Right before the camera turns for the closeup, in the upper right hand corner of the screen, something rockets down into the ocean and creates a splash.  Meteor?  Satellite?  Monster?  Your guess is as good as mine.  Then, at the end of the credits, there is some white noise and what sounded like, “It’s still alive.”

Overall Impressions

Overall the movie was good if you went into it not expecting a monster movie.  The no name actors, their stories during this terror filled event, and their individual demises (including exploding after a bite from one of the little monsters) are forefront in the story, with Cloverfield and his little friends himself playing more of a supporting role.  The movie for the most part stayed very geographically accurate to the city.  The quick military response, the battery life of the camera, and its sudden nightvision ability are all relatively laughable but easily dismissed due to the quick bursts of fast paced, shaky, and jolty action.  Dramamine would be highly recommended if your motion sensitive.

I would tell you what my friend Buttery thought of the ending… but 80 minutes into it the butter took effect… and she ended up in the bathroom for the last 4 minutes… but she’s seen Blair Witch… so she knows how it ends.