Tuesday, 24 October 2017

Cloverfield Out.

OK, I admit that the second half of Cloverfield was scarier than the first, mainly because the director copied the technique used by Ridley Scott for probably the scariest scene in Alien.

The main problem for me was the occasional lapse in both credibility and continuity. If the man who is supposed to be holding the camera is shown pulling another man across the concrete with both hands, who is doing the filming? And HSPs are very good at spotting that the sweat stain on a man’s shirt changes from one scene to another and then back again. We get an immediate image of the crew member with the spray gun doing his job.

And of course, the military did an awful lot of stomping about and shouting, but I do have to commend the writer for one thing: not a single military man (there were no military women to be seen) ever once said ‘let’s kick ass.’ Maybe he was only National Guard. Maybe the ‘kick ass’ lines are reserved for the more elite Marine Corps.

(If only we British had made this film. How refreshing to see a young Royal Marine lieutenant saying:

‘Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. Please walk this way.’

‘You mean you want us to march?’

‘No, I want you to follow me.’

‘Oh, right.’

Oh for the days of Ealing Studios.)

As for the ending, well… Hadn’t better say any more in case somebody out there hasn’t seen it yet. But I have to ask: did they nuke Manhattan or didn’t they? I’m genuinely intrigued.

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