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Stunning promotional art from Cloverfield (2008)
I somehow missed
the opportunity to watch the three Cloverfield
films (2008 – 2018) when they were first released, but I just corrected this
wrong and I present you my brief thoughts right here.
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Cloverfield (2008) poster
Cloverfield (2008)
Set in New York,
this is about Rob Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David) who is about to leave for
Japan, and his brother Jason (Mike Vogel) throws a farewell party for him (the
guests are a mixture of city professionals and hipsters), all of it recorded on
a camcorder by their common friend and all around nerd Hud (T. J. Miller). It
all seems to be going normally well, other than the break-up the protagonist
has with his kind-of girlfriend Beth (Odette Annable) whom he’ll leave behind.
That is until massive explosions rock New York, but this time around it is not
religious extremists but rather several monsters, with at least one of them
being of Godzilla proportions.
Amidst the panic
resulted by the aforementioned threat the players mentioned above try to
survive, along with a couple of friends (including the gorgeous LizzyCaplan),
as they encounter the army and their bombs (trying to save the day). The
protagonist is desperate to reunite with his estranged (and physically hurt by
a building collapse) girlfriend, while Hud keeps recording their entire
journey.
On the wake of
the third wave of ‘found footage’ horror [the first being initiated by the Cannibal Holocaust (1980) ignition, the
second byThe Blair Witch Project
(1999) phenomenon, and the third by the Paranormal
Activity (2007) brilliance] – a genre known for attempting to cover the
usual no-budget resources with supposedly amateur camera recordings – comes
this very original take that combines the usual shaky camera approach with
big-budget special effects extravaganza, which makes sense considering it was
produced by J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk on a $25 million budget, no less. This
is a very original idea, but essentially a wasted opportunity, serving only as
an anomaly, albeit one that will be remembered forever for grossing a massive
$172.4 and generating a very successful franchise.
Remember, this
was made in 2008 when your average Joe still didn’t know how to use a camcorder
(not to mention that he/she didn’t have Instagram, a reason enough to develop
photography skills) and this is depicted in the directorial approach of Matt
Reeves for the sake of authenticity, but it can be vomit-inducing when seen
today, more than a decade later. The film is also anxiety-inducing and very
stressful throughout, as it will have you constantly biting your nails. Full of
explosions, CGI, helicopters, and whatnot, it also benefits from some very
engaging characters, not to mention that it also managed to cram a love story
in it as well.
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10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) poster
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
Making a Psycho (1960)-like escape from her
fiancé, Michelle (the ultra-gorgeous Mary Elizabeth Winstead), she soon has a
car crash and ends up chained in the bunker under the farm of paranoid middle
aged man Howard (John Goodman), where he also keeps Emmett (John Gallagher
Jr.), supposedly because the air outside is contaminated either due to a
Russian nuclear attack or one from Mars. As the two youngsters try to escape,
they will soon realize that there is indeed a terror of massive proportions
waiting in the outside world.
Originally
developed as a claustrophobic horror that would be called The Cellar, this was then transformed to a sequel of Cloverfield (2008), one in which at the
hands of debuting director Dan Trachtenberg ditched the ‘found footage’ format
and wisely went with a conventional approach, albeit one that still remained
tense and captivating throughout. Produced by J.J. Abrams on a modest $15
million budget, it went on to gross a hefty $110.2, making it apparent that we
would see more of the same.
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The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)
The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)
On the wake of
the destructive energy crisis an international team of scientists travel deep
in space in order to save the world when they encounter alternative realities
and much more hideous happenings.
Originally
developed as a full-blown sci-fi epic that would be called God Particle, this was then transformed to a Cloverfieldsequel, one in which at the hands of director Julius
Onah(his second feature) it became an Alien
(1979) homage of sorts. By remaining nightmarish and grotesque throughout this
is a very captivating experience, although less captivating than the previous
two films in the franchise. Produced by J.J. Abrams on a $45 million budget, it
premiered on Netflix.
Afterword
At some point
Paramount Studios were developing A Quiet
Place (2018) as a potential fourth film in the Cloverfield series, but thankfully the plan was ditched and it was
released as a stand-alone feature in its own right. However, J.J. Abrams is now
known to have been working on another sequel for the franchise, so there will
be definitely be more on our way.
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