MOVIE REVIEW: Cloverfield

 

This is a 2008 film by the Bad Robot studios headed by J.J. Abrams, director and producer of the first two Star Trek reboot movies. A “found video” genre film, this concerns a group of friends in New York that end up running for their lives when an alien lifeform crashes into the city. As they navigate the place that they once called home, they are attacked by parasites coming off the huge alien, have to deal with other refugees and the military, and try to save the girlfriend of one of the group from a demolished building. It is a thrill ride that has very little time to catch one’s breath, much less really understand that is actually going on. The only actor that will probably be even recognizable in this is Tim Griffin, who plays the officer in charge of the military unit the survivors run into, and who has been in everything from NCIS: New Orleans to The Bourne Supremacy. The rest were virtual unknowns when this movie was made, but that only adds to the realism. There are many scary moments, as well as a little gore and strong language, but, in all, this is an enthralling and completely spellbinding time.