Eve of Destruction

An earth-shaking explosion. An otherworldly roar. The severed head of the Statue of Liberty hurtling through the streets of New York. Last summer, those quick, shaky images opened the trailer for a film identified only by its release date, 01-18-08, and jumpstarted the massive marketing campaign for what was to be named Cloverfield. Now, after months of fanboy anticipation stoked by a slew of red-herring Websites and mySpace pages, and rampant speculation (Is it really a monster movie? What does Slusho have to do with it?) over what exactly creator / producer J.J. Abrams’ film is about, 01-18-08 is finally here.

So…does it live up to the hype? In a word — albeit one uttered rather queasily — yes. The apocalyptic destruction of Manhattan starts roughly 20 minutes into the 85-minute film, and it doesn’t let up. One huge and ugly mofo of a monster is on a rampage, and all the action is seen from the point-of-view of one man’s digital video camera as he and his friends try to escape the city. The seams that typically show in major F/X films are rendered invisible by the grainy, you-are-there, handheld camerawork. This chaos looks disturbingly real.

For what could have been a huge letdown, Cloverfield is a fresh, loud and unsettling update of a genre that got tired a long time ago. Now that is truly something for the fanboys to get worked up about.

Cloverfield opens today from Paramount Pictures.

Bookmark this article

MORE FLICKS ON MODERN TONIC

A Gay New World

Who needs High School Musical 3 when director Tom Gustafson’s fantastical indie film Were the World Mine (in NYC and San Francisco November 21) has jocks cuter than ... more

All Slumdogs Go To Heaven

Could an urchin from the Mumbai slums win 20 million rupees on a TV game show? Would he have the smarts? Could it be his destiny? Better yet, will he get the girl and ... more

An American Hero

“I’m Harvey Milk, and I’m here to recruit you!” That was the signature speech opener of the pioneering San Francisco supervisor, the first openly gay man elected to ... more

Pop Life

If ever there were an artist who embodied the short-lived, go-go spirit of the 1980s, it was pop art icon Keith Haring. He arrived in New York City in 1978, when ... more

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Some people seem naturally joyful. Take Poppy. She’s one of those women who will walk into a store and happily engage a stranger in conversation — whether he likes it ... more

The Velvet Mafia

If you’ve seen any of Guy Ritchie’s lad-heavy, trigger-happy capers (Snatch, Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels), you know the score: Something gets stolen and two ... more