My daughter and I sat down and watched Cloverfield, which has a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes, tonight in preparation of 10 Cloverfield Lane. I’d never seen the film before, but I’d heard some mixed reviews. I’m not a big fan of the found footage style of filmmaking with the exception of the Blair Witch. I’ve seen Project Almanac, Chronicle, and I feel like there are some I’m forgetting, but most would have been better if they were filmed in the traditional method.
The film stars T.J. Miller, Mike Vogel, Jessica Lucas, Lizzy Caplan, Michael Stahl-David, and Odette Annable. A group of friends is saying farewell to their friend Jason Hawkins (Vogel) who is moving to Japan. Hud (Miller) has been asked to document testimonials of the party goers saying farewell to Jason when some disaster strikes New York and the party turns to an attempt of survival.
I would say that, much like Blair Witch, the found footage style really works for the story in Cloverfield. It still takes a little too long getting to the point of the story. Found footage always forces us to watch content that, if we’d actually found this footage, we could skip over. It’s one of the reasons this style of film doesn’t always make sense. If we need to care about the characters in order for us to watch the movie then stick to traditional film styles. Nevertheless, this movie works and it seems very believable. It definitely adds to the suspense and intensity of the film world.
Despite the positives, there are scenes where the camera work is definitely nauseating. That happened in Blair Witch also though, as a person running for their life while holding a camera isn’t likely to worry about the quality of the shots they’re capturing. Despite those moments, the found footage definitely adds to film.
The film moves quickly and it’s a good time watching a film. My daughter and I were both invested in the film and the characters. I definitely say this is a Solid Movie!
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