Fiiiinally saw Cloverfield last night after an agonising wait!
I have to say...I was a bit disappointed - but I guess it's inevitable after so much hype.
I just felt the first 20 mins or so were messy and it was hard to hear what everyone was saying. And there were some real dips in the action, which made the movie drag a bit.
But when the movie got going, it was amazing, and my jaw was on the floor. Great stuff - although the monster didn't seem all that new - it should have been a bigger version of the bugs - all teeth. I liked it that the movie could have stopped in various places, but carried on - great, I just wanted more monster madness.
Lots of imagination-stretches though - like would the military guys really let that guy film, would anyone really go into that toppling building to save someone. And the 9/11 references were a little overdone and cack-handed. Oh let's pay tribute to 9/11...with a BIG MONSTER MOVIE! nooooo. Too trite. Oh, and New York - giant monster - you can't really get away from Godzilla can you?
So all in all, way too hyped up, and Empire are so wrong with their 5 out of 5 score.
And I'm really annoyed I missed the splash at the end...
I heard there is going to be a sequel and I reckon it'll take place at the same time as the first movie but from different perspectives - JJ likes playing around with time, doesn't he, and doing clever things in that regard.
12 comments:
Hey mate!
How are you? I totally loved Cloverfield. Maybe it's because I avoided the hype and saw it early, but it was really exciting to me. Love the colapsed building scene mainly because it was right near my apartment here in NYC. :)
Hope all is well with you. Never see your on messenger!
hi matey!!
must have been weird watching that film in New York!
5 out of 5? Really? This is why I don't read Empire any more. Crikey.
I think you're right about the sequel. I've heard rumblings that it'll be approaching the same events from a different perspective. A Michael Bay style military action movie is what I've heard.
I think it's fair enough to do it as a response to 9/11; after all, Godzilla is a response to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What bothers me is that Americans think the WTC attacks are anywhere near on the same level as the bombing of Japan.
I know the promo campaign has been rated a big success, and the majority of the reviews have been positive, but how has the word-of-mouth been? Its takings at the US box office fell by nearly 70% from the first weekend to the second, even though it played on the same number of screens both weekends, which, seems to me, a sign of poor word-of-mouth. Granted, given its budget, and how much money it made that first weekend, it's no surprise that they're talking about a sequel regardless.
I enjoyed it. But Empire lost it years ago. I gave up buying it when they gave 5 stars to AOTC!
In response to the comment that "Americans think the WTC attacks are anywhere near on the same level as the bombing of Japan." That's hardly true. I don't know anyone who has ever said or thought that. It's just your opinion.
A big difference between the two is that we were at war when Japan was bombed. The whole world was at war. Also, Japan was sent warnings and ignored them. So while the level of desruction was not comparible, the shock of 911 coming out of nowhere was greater. And as someone who lived here when it happened, it was just as life changing.
But back to the main topic, I still thought Cloverfield was a interesting and good movie. :)
Apologies, it came across as a generalisation, and it wasn't meant to offend.
But yet again today, we have the government and media in the US hyping up September 11th as if it was a far bigger event than it was.
And you know, the site of the attack is called "Ground Zero", which is a pretty explicit comparison with the Japan bombings. I'm not pulling this from nowhere. ;)
I agree. The media over here does hype the crap out of 911 and not to honor anyone lost there. More for ratings for whatever show they are plugging or for whatever official might be running for office.
Exactly, and unfortunately, that perception is what makes it out into the outside world, despite not being the view of the people.
Which is what bothers me just slightly about Cloverfield; as a response to 9/11, I understand it, but there's more to it than that, and the implicit comparison there between the US media's "Ground Zero" and the actual ones rankles me a bit.
All that said, it's not necessary to view a monster movie as anything other than a big beastie mashing up an urban centre, and they're almost always enjoyable on that level.
When we had our July london bombings a couple of years ago, it annoyed the hell out of me that they called it '7/7', as if it was anywhere near the scale of Sept 11th. I mean, yes, it must have been harrowing for those involved, and yes, i was pretty scared to be in london at the time, but the media just seemed actually glad they had something to scare-monger us with.
That's a good point. Our lot did do exactly the same thing with "7/7" (ugh). Perhaps it's time for a British monster movie in which a creature about the size of a large cow eats a bus. ;)
let's just get a monster that wipes out newspapers and the news. i hate the scare-mongering. 'anthrax threat to tube!' 'new MRSA Aids!' Don't fucking terrify us, help us learn how to deal with it all
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