Cloverfield

9:22am Thursday 14th February 2008

Although the Leviathan at the centre of this inspired Monster movie is un-named throughout its debut, I very much doubt that we have seen the last of its ferociously unannounced visits.

Coming in at an impressive 500 feet high, and rather disturbingly described as "an immature" specimen suffering from "separation anxiety", insurance premiums on the waterfront are about to go through the roof, as Americas first true answer to Godzilla takes his place in the cinemas pantheon of giant marauding man-eaters.

The genius of Cloverfield is that the creature almost takes a cameo role in his own film. Abrams' shoots the movie in Cinéma-vérité style on a hand-held video camera, from the point of view of one of the groups of stampeding humans trying to get out of its way; rather than going for supposed news crew/military helicopter scenes of the big guy totalling the city in the traditional fashion.

By not giving the monster a name its menace is made much more sinister and inexplicable, as somehow I feel that this would diminish the creature's threat by attempting to make it familiar. This thread is maintained by the fact that we are no clearer at the end of the film as to where the hell it came from, or why on earth it decided to make this devastating visit to Manhattan.

There are many highly original touches to this film which mark it out as something special, and give it a pedigree of its own, alongside its monstrous star.

The central premise is set up beautifully. The erstwhile director of Lost, gives us characters we can all too easily identify with in day to day life, and a situation we all recognise.

The references to 9/11 are inescapable, and reoccur throughout the film, particularly when Rob, Hud and Lilly, try to climb into Beth's leaning tower to rescue her, from it's upright twin.

This is the central point of the film. Something devastating and inexplicable has happened.

By Glenn James With thanks to Odeon Cinema, Foregate Street, Worcester.

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