11:14 film review

certificate_15

CLOVERFIELD

One of the year's most eagerly anticipated releases arrives on our screen with plenty of bangs, plenty of scares and plenty of thrills. Why then does Cloverfield leave us wanting more?

Ever since the project was announced - by Lost creator and upcoming Star Trek director JJ Abrams - the internet rumour mill has been in overdrive. Teasers and sneak peeks suggested a monster running amok in New York, and the question on everyone's lips has been 'What is Cloverfield'? Having seen the film, I can confirm that a monster does indeed threaten Manhattan, but I'm no closer to knowing what Cloverfield is. (Actually that is a white lie: further reading suggests that it is the codename given to the monster by the military in the film - although the moment may have passed me by - but it could also refer to the street where Abrams' production company is located).

Like an updated urban Blair Witch Project, the whole affair is shot on hand held shaky-cam (viewers are advised to sit near the back of the cinema). The premise follows a group of twentysomethings in New York - a preppy post-college crowd making inroads in the corporate world - who throw a party to mark the departure of one of their core members. It's an emotional night for Rob (Michael Stahl-David), who has various emotional and social loose ends to tie up before he jets off to Japan the following day to take up a new post as a VP. The party, and the dramatic events that follow, are all captured on camera by Rob's best friend, a man in possession of the longest camera battery life in North America.

The high, and occasionally low, jinks are loudly and rudely interrupted by a blackout and a sudden eruption from the centre of Manhattan. The partygoers rush on to the street only to catch glimpses of a terrifically rendered creature which is knocking down everything before him.

What happens next is a staple diet of many straight-to-video features - a sub-group of the party guests first tries to escape and then defies logic by returning to the city to rescue a friend. The frights predominantly come because we know only what they know: it's a huge unknown force and the military has been mobilised to suppress it with apparently little success.