So What's The Deal with Cloverfield? ... You Decide

For many months leading up to its Friday release, Internet message boards and movie sites have been rampant with speculation surrounding the specifics of JJ Abrams monster flick Cloverfield. Its not surprising given the nature of its bizarre title and super vague trailer - Abrams and his team went to great lengths to keep the plot shrouded in mystery and build up the suspense. Only, if you went into the theater expecting answers, guess again.

The plot is as follows - the film is apparently home video evidence retrieved by the military of some kind of large scale attack on New York City. By means of said video, we experience everything from the POV of the group of friends caught up in the chaos, desperately trying to escape the city. It all starts with a tremor around midnight during a going-away party for one of the friends. Shortly thereafter, complete panic ensues when a large explosion erupts in midtown Manhatten. Is it an earthquake? Terrorist attack? Something else? Well, whatever it is, we know it roars because the sounds menacingly echoes through the streets. Soon sirens are sounding, military vehicles are racing through the streets and jets and helicopters fly by overhead while the frightened masses run wildly for safety... which, of course, is nowhere to be found. During all of this we only catch fleeting glimpses of what IT is while catching vague descriptions from panicked witnesses.

And so it is throughout - lots of shaky home video, screaming, running, explosions, flickering lights and intermittent roaring.

Eventually the movie ends as it must, where the video ends. Literally. This film takes a minimalist approach leaving the source material (the video) as the only plot device. When it ends, the credits roll. No explanation. No details. Little doubt this will leave many folks sitting in their seat scratching their heads wondering why not a single damn question they had going in was answered. Then there will be those who revel in what they just experienced. Trust me when I tell you that there is a certain element of brilliance to Cloverfield.

It is fairly clear to me that JJ Abrams understands what drives good suspense. In what I see as an enlightened approach to storytelling, Abrams and his team give the audience just enough to let them start filling in the details for themselves and, in doing so, avoid a pitfall that is all too common - the audience disagrees with the creator's vision of what happened or should happen. The audience had a ton of questions going in (ie: what the monster looks like) and probably just as many expectations, but in holding true to real life, every person who views Cloverfield will have their own interpretation of events. What exactly was attacking New York and what did it look it? You saw something, but let your imagination fill in the specifics. Where did it come from? You heard a few ideas suggested during the film, let your imagination decide. How does the story end? Does the military ultimately win out? You decide. And it is precisely the details that we do not know concretely that makes the events scary. People find themselves the most frightened when their imaginations run wild. Cloverfield fuels the fire.

This approach to storytelling is fast becoming Abrams' MO. His television project Lost has garnered a huge following and remains engaging because viewers find themselves speculating as to the true nature of the island, the "Others" and the lives of the castaways. Again, concrete details are few, just enough to get you thinking, yet the series is entertaining. Its what has made books so successful since for centuries - the reader's imagination. Abrams just knows how to tap it.

Also true to the home video vehicle, the film features absolutely no score. You're just there... in the thick of things and the chaos provides your imagination with the only score you need.

While watching, I couldn't help but think what a great idea it would be to create a companion film presented from another perspective like the military. We do get somewhat of a feel for what the military is up against during the film, but given just how entertaining the whole premise and experience was, I think another perspective could be just as fun.

Cloverfield isn't high brow cinema, but it is clever in presentation and wildly entertaining as a new-age monster flick. While the main characters' sub-plot is a bit lame, the point remains that they had to fill the movie with something and it works as well as anything they might have used. You have to get the characters from Point A to Point B somehow. The shaky camera-work might get annoying (and even nauseating at times) but overall it serves its purpose and adds to the aesthetic of the film. ITS PANDELERIUM BABY!!!

So what is the story on Cloverfield? I don't know, you tell me. 8/10