We Have Seen the Monster and It Is Us

Er, not quite. There is an actual, physical monster in Cloverfield, and unlike the no-see-em trailer, the film eventually shows it in all its gruesome glory (and no, it ain't Stay Puft). Opening Friday, J.J. Abrams' camcorder monster movie (which some describe as "Godzilla meets the Blair Witch") covers a terrible day for all of Manhattan and, in particular, for a group of New Yorkers throwing a bon voyage party for one of their friends. Ruh-roh!

We don't want to give anything away (probably the less you know, the better), so we'll keep the review brief. The good: Cloverfield is a genuinely tense film, thanks in large part to the you-are-there point of view. There's a lot of suspense, especially with what exactly is attacking the city, though by the end of the film, if anything they showed a little too much. The bad: Yes, some of the non-monster storyline delves into cliche. As in, sometimes boys like girls, but they just don't know how to tell them. Yeesh. Still, director Matt Reeves and writer Drew Goddard keep things moving along, figuratively as well as literally; there were some complaints after the fact that the jumpy camerawork induced nausea and/or headaches, though we were personally unafflicted. Regardless, the movie's only about 75 minutes long, so this shit is taut.

Now to the bigger picture (which can be discussed without fear of spoilers): As the '50s monster movies tapped into the fear and paranoia of the Cold War and the Atomic Age, Cloverfield is totally about life in post-9/11 times. There's a scene early on that directly evokes Giuliani's favorite day, an NYC streetscape clouded with smoke and dust, paper and debris, and a horde of dazed and screaming people. But more than that, the idea of being scared of something that you can only catch glimpses of; the idea of something attacking you and you don't know what it is or where it came from, but by god the military's gonna do their damnedest to try and take it out? Sounds like our old friend Terror.

Added bonus: While referencing the anxieties of our time, the film also makes a few deadpan observations about modern man's need to document everything digitally. When the Statue of Liberty is desecrated (see above), onlookers can only stand around with their cameraphones and Handicams, ready to post their images to Facebook and YouTube. America is full of sociopathic exhibitionists and voyeurs, tough but fair, sad but true.

Cloverfield opens Friday at Cinerama, Pacific Place, Metro Cinemas, Lincoln Square, and Oaktree, amongst other theaters.