SilentDawn’s review published on Letterboxd:
87/100
Ever since Gojira, the kaiju/giant monster genre has explored a variety of socially conscious themes - often dealing with the aftermath of warfare and the chaos of a current political climate - but nothing has come close to the pure exhilaration of Cloverfield and its horrifying minute-by-minute depiction of an unknown terror ripping through structures and desolating any semblance of order. For a majority of its brisk run time, every frame is as unstable as the crumbling buildings and the shocked but lost citizens wandering the city streets, and it makes the quiet, endearing glimpses of a mostly taped-over document even more empathetic and heartbreaking. These are actual, genuine characters that the viewer ends up following; annoying, selfish, insecure, loving, flawed, and compassionate without regret or explanation. Any moment with the main monster and his pesky minions are distinctly satisfying, but Cloverfield goes beyond the usual thrills because the characters aren't made out of cardboard and the environment they're encased in is so petrifying.
In fact, director Matt Reeves seems to play around the most with its NYC images, evoking 9/11 texture and feel but never pushing for anything obvious. Waves of dust, collapsed staircases, injured individuals, and moments of crowd control develop this entire situation organically. Even typical exposition (ie: the phone call on the bridge) is muted by the frustrated sounds of an evacuation scenario, building to an unflinching set-piece explosion that continuously feeds the tension and hopelessness of these people.
It also may have the most beautiful exchange of "I love you" in modern cinema. For a monster movie shrouded with secrecy and carried by a brilliant marketing strategy, it didn't have to be so deeply felt and ingeniously crafted.
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