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purplecthulhu at 11:27pm on 20/06/2008
purplecthulhu at 11:27pm on 20/06/2008Just watched Cloverfield on DVD.
I must say I'm rather impressed. It's the bystanders' story to a giant monster invasion, like The Beast from 20000 Fathoms, but it's not what the people in charge, the people who know what's going on, would see. It's a bunch of friends just thrown into this huge disaster.
This saves a lot on special effects as bystanders don't get to see much of the big picture, and saves on exposition and explanation too, but bystanders don't get to understand - they just get hurt, die, watch their friends get eaten. It's a monster movie for the rest of us.
But it's structured well enough so that you do get to see some of the big picture as well. Not all of it, so you can make up as many theories as you want (as no doubt the Fox News of the film will be doing), but enough for reasonable narrative closure as well as telling the characters' stories. I'm impressed.
Not for those of you who like your cinematography steady and well composed though.
I must say I'm rather impressed. It's the bystanders' story to a giant monster invasion, like The Beast from 20000 Fathoms, but it's not what the people in charge, the people who know what's going on, would see. It's a bunch of friends just thrown into this huge disaster.
This saves a lot on special effects as bystanders don't get to see much of the big picture, and saves on exposition and explanation too, but bystanders don't get to understand - they just get hurt, die, watch their friends get eaten. It's a monster movie for the rest of us.
But it's structured well enough so that you do get to see some of the big picture as well. Not all of it, so you can make up as many theories as you want (as no doubt the Fox News of the film will be doing), but enough for reasonable narrative closure as well as telling the characters' stories. I'm impressed.
Not for those of you who like your cinematography steady and well composed though.