If you spend much of your working day looking at cool things online, you’ve undoubtedly come across the viral marketing campaign for Cloverfield, which opens Friday. The movie has been buzzed about since last summer, when a kick-ass trailer premiered. Fanboys have been gushing over the film’s pedigree (Lost’s JJ Abrams produced) and concept (giant monster attacks NYC) ever since.
But Cloverfield has also been shrouded in mystery. Other than a basic premise – a group of friends document the monster’s destruction with a video-camera – nothing has leaked about the movie. Not even a picture of the monster. A drawing surfaced last weekend, but it was quickly dismissed as a fake.
We have the first exclusive rendering of the monster (see above). My 10-year-old son sketched it at a screening of the film in Valley View last night. He really didn’t like the movie. I did. It pretty much amounts to “The Blair Witch Project With Godzilla,” but it’s also a visceral rush. Don’t go in expecting answers or a conclusion. And don’t get too attached to any of the characters. But it’s a hell of a ride. — Michael Gallucci
This article appears in Jan 16-22, 2008.
Wouldn’t a monster that’s big enough to rip the Statue of Liberty’s head off be big enough to capture on video, even from a distance?
With all the hype, I decided to wait for the reviews. I’m glad I did, I won’t bother with it now.
If you are thinking that this movie is not worth seeing, then you are ABSOLUTELY WRONG!!!!!!!
This is actually a well acted, well directed and well written move. And by the way, a good monster flick to boot. The shaky camera is a little annoying, but I can understand the point of it. It is basically the military viewing the incident through a video camera found at the scene of the incident. I’m not going to spoil it, but the monster is one of the ugliest, nastiest creatures I’ve seen in awhile, and the bonus little creatures that fall off it are pretty nasty too!
Anyway, think Classic Godzilla with better effects, better acting, better dialog and better writing and you’ll get the picture!