The movie “Cloverfield”, released on January 16, 2008, is a combination of sci-fi and horror in found footage style. The whole movie is from the perspective of a basic handheld camera being carried by the main characters. This movie was loved by many people, including me. It really puts the viewer in the perspective of a normal citizen during this chaotic scenario and does it well.
In a nutshell, the film takes place in New York City and starts off with a party, until the power starts going out all over the city. The power soon comes back on, but is suddenly followed with a city wide evacuation. It is quickly revealed that the city is under attack by a large creature and the characters must get to a safe place to board escape helicopters. The film does show the creature occasionally, but not often, and when it does the viewer never gets the full picture leaving that feeling of uncertainty.
“Cloverfield” was produced by Bad Robot Productions and distributed by Paramount Pictures, and the film runs for about 85 minutes. The franchise has two other movies, “10 Cloverfield Lane” and “The Cloverfield Paradox”. Finally, Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a four star rating between 215 votes.
Viewers typically see these “monster attacks a city” movies from multiple angles and perspectives which all have some sort of control over the situation. “Cloverfield” takes the concept and shows what this situation would be like for an ordinary citizen. This makes it feel as though the viewer could be in this uncertain scenario. It has a few flaws, some things seem to happen too suddenly for example, but overall it deserves its four star rating. Well done Bad Robot Productions, well done.