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Cloverfield


Cloverfield (2008)

Figured I needed to watch this again after not having seen it for a year.

What was it about Cloverfield that had everyone trying to figure out what it was? I clearly remember seeing the teaser trailer, along with Transformers and then following the subsequent viral marketing attached to it. All we had was a date, and that's what we were all counting down to. After seeing Cloverfield in the theatre, laughing at those who claimed "motion sickness" while watching it, and then watching it when it first came out on DVD, my opinion has changed dramatically.

I think every person in the world has, in some way, heard of The Blair Witch Project. One of the first mainstream movies where the entire movie is shot by one of the characters, which doesn't make Cloverfield original in that aspect. Neither does the story, a giant monster (from God knows where) has started attacking New York. I wish Hollywood would take a different angle on giant monster films. Not only would that make it more believable, it would make it more original. I heard J. J. Abrams summing this up as America's Godzilla. Maybe so, but why not call it what it really is, a re-imagining of sorts.

There are things that make Cloverfield fun and original in their own rights, but they're not enough to make it a standout from the rest of films that have gone before it.