Cloverfield is pure chaos, and I love it.
Cloverfield Synopsis
As a group of New Yorkers (Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman) enjoy a going-away party, little do they know that they will soon face the most terrifying night of their lives.
A creature the size of a skyscraper descends upon the city, leaving death and destruction in its wake. Using a handheld video camera, the friends record their struggle to survive as New York crumbles around them.
My Thoughts on Cloverfield
Re-Watching Cloverfield for the first time in a good while reminded me why I liked it. It’s loud, messy, and a bit ridiculous, and yet somehow, it’s one of the most effective monster movies I’ve ever seen.
Not because it’s polished (it’s deliberately not), but because it commits to all of its chaos, with its shaky footage, screams, and whatever glimpses the characters happen to catch while running for their lives.
They’re all deliberate choices that make the experience feel quite raw and immediate, like you’re there in the thick of it, running through the streets alongside the characters with no clue what’s going on.
The city isn’t just a backdrop either, it’s a city that is closing in on you and collapsing on top of you at the same time, literally and emotionally. Every collapsing building and distant roar becomes something you experience with the characters.
I also love how little explanation we get. No origin story, no scientists, no long-winded military briefings. Just panic and instinct. It feels weirdly honest. If something like this happened in real life, most of us wouldn’t have answers. We’d just be trying not to die while refreshing Twitter for rumors.
It’s also still quite wild to watch how they pulled off the effects too, I love them. Hiding that much CGI behind a faux-amateur camcorder lens shouldn’t work, but it does.
Cloverfield is full of quiet horror, and confusion, oh and don’t forget the dread. It’s not very subtle, but that doesn’t make it any less effective. There’s something really haunting about watching people try to keep it together in the middle of a world that clearly isn’t. It doesn’t strive to be neat or composed. It thrives on the mess.
It’s scrappy, risky, and occasionally absurd, but that’s kind of the point. It’s not trying to give you answers. It just wants to drop you in the middle of the nightmare and see what you do with it.
And that’s what makes it brilliant.
Cloverfield Trailer
Cloverfield on IMDB
Cloverfield Good Points
Less is More – The film captures the enormity of the monster and destruction without ever fully showing everything, which is something I appreciated more on a re-watch.
Creative Visual Effects – Hiding high-end CGI behind lo-fi footage was a bold choice, and it works.
Atmosphere – The tone is consistent: anxious, terrifying, and mysterious from start to finish. It nails the mood it’s going for perfectly.
Cloverfield Bad Points
Shallow Character Development Most of the characters are quite thinly written, making you not care much about them as characters.
Dialogue Sometimes Cringey – In trying to sound natural, some of the dialogue feels awkward and ends up a bit flat.
Sound Mix Overload – The film is loud. Not sure it’s a negative overall, but it was to my old ears.
Is Cloverfield Worth Watching?
Cloverfield is a chaotic, and quite immersive monster movie that drops you into the middle of a disaster with no warning or explanation, and even though you have probably already watched it, this is me just saying to give it another watch.
Where To Stream Cloverfield?
Cloverfield Director and Cast
Director – Matt Reeves
Main Cast – Michael Stahl-David, T.J. Miller, Jessica Lucas, Lizzy Caplan, Odette Yustman, Mike Vogel.
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