Cloverfield Reviews
Critic & User Reviews
What Common Sense Media Says...
| Family Rating: |
More Family Rating Details |
Critic Reviews
It puts human faces on the victims of mass destruction, faces that might easily have been yours or mine, staring down the maw of something we don't understand.
Read the full reviewCloverfield, a surreptitiously subversive, stylistically clever little gem of an entertainment disguised, under its deadpan-neutral title, as a dumb Gen-YouTube monster movie, makes the convincingly chilling argument that the world will end -- or, at least, Manhattan will crumble -- with a bang and a whimper.
Read the full reviewCloverfield's gritty, in-your-face style is uncompromising. If you're looking for a nice, clean movie filmed with a steadycam, you'll have to look elsewhere.
Read the full reviewThe genre may be old news, but the skillfully made Cloverfield offers a heart-racing experience with plenty of chills, thrills and exhilaration.
Read the full reviewCloverfield is content to be a creature feature; that's what makes it bearable and what keeps it from greatness. The genre, not the script, does the psychological heavy lifting.
Read the full reviewProduced by "Lost" and "Alias" mastermind J.J. Abrams, Cloverfield has been one of the more interesting experiments in large-scale guerrilla filmmaking.
Read the full reviewMercifully, at 84 minutes the movie is even shorter than its originally alleged 90-minute running time; how much visual shakiness can we take? And yet, all in all, it is an effective film, deploying its special effects well and never breaking the illusion that it is all happening as we see it.
Read the full reviewThink "Godzilla Unplugged" -- with chillingly effective results.
Read the full reviewNow that the fanboy hype has cleared, we can see Cloverfield for what it is: borrowed inspiration, trite screenwriting and amateurish acting all in the service of a ballsy idea -- that a horror movie could maybe, just maybe, have a soul.
Read the full reviewDespite a first reel entirely devoted to establishing characters, Cloverfield is basically a line-'em-up, pick-'em-off horror movie that's effective without being either viscerally frightening or emotionally moving. Watching it is like going through a car wash: You come out of it thoroughly Cloverfield-ized, but essentially unchanged.
Read the full reviewDespite its indie-flavored shooting style, first-rate visual effects, reasonable intensity factor, nihilistic attitude and post-9/11 anxiety overlay, this punchy sci-fier is, in the end, not much different from all the marauding creature features that have come before it.
Read the full reviewAdept at wringing maximum suspense and might have reached the heights of the Korean monster film "The Host" but for the limitations of the camcorder ploy. While it injects the film with a run-and-gun urgency, the device grows tiresome and ultimately leaves the film shortchanged.
Read the full reviewCloverfield is a relentless, I-thought-my-eyeballs-were-bleeding exercise in visual disorientation.
Read the full reviewLike too many big-studio productions, Cloverfield works as a showcase for impressively realistic-looking special effects, a realism that fails to extend to the scurrying humans whose fates are meant to invoke pity and fear but instead inspire yawns and contempt. Rarely have I rooted for a monster with such enthusiasm.
Read the full reviewReview excerpts provided by Metacritic.com.
The Metascore® designation for this movie is 64
User Reviews
These boards contain member reviews of Movies. Use the Notify links to report improper post. Read AOL Anywhere Rules of User Conduct for more. AOL members: For our full suite of interactive Message Boards, Chats, Polls, and member stories, go to keyword: Movie Talk.
EPIC FAIL
"A cross between Godzilla and Blair Witch Project. Not in a good way."
worse than plan nine
"worst movie of last 7 decades.. my 14-yo boy could have done better with a sony handy-cam. austin popper"
unbelievable
"Cloverfield kept my interest for the duration of the movie, but it was totally unrealistic - obviously that's what kept my attention! But, the characters kept making dumb decisions and that is the only thing that kept the plot moving. Not recommended unless there's nothing else at the rental store."
Still Waiting!
"At this point, I'm still waiting for the story to begin. Cloverfield had a mindboggling beginning. Unfortunately, the beginning never ended. What started out as a rivetting movie became lost in its own lack of development. I finished watching this unkind attempt at moviemaking, only because I didn't want the money I spent on it to be a total loss! Warning--> Don't waste your time!!!"
It has that Twlight Zone feel
"I liked the movie; the beginning answers all the questions before the film even starts. It does remind me of something army guys would pass around inside a dark bunker saying, "You gotta watch civilian 'Cloverfield' tape." You get to see the what that military guy is seeing, of course he knows the whole story, so that doesn't need to be explained."
Scene "Four" Play
"We only got to scene four before we realized that we had made a mistake and had opted to watch this movie instead of having sex.Never saw scene five."
NOT SO BAD
"I finished watching the movie last night and from what it is written in the reviews that I have seen people are saying that it was not a good movie, I beg to differ, if people used their imaginations they would understand this movie. This movie leaves you in suspense to think what is going on and if you watch the ending credits you will see why? Not a bad movie it did have action it did have suspense........"
Don't let another Blair Witch get your money.
"I watched this movie on DVD, waiting because I had a bad feeling about it when I saw the original trailer. Now I feel completely justified in not going to the theater and sorry so sorry for anyone who is now thinking of purchasing this DVD. If you have to watch it, rent it. Bad acting, bad story. Even the monsters are not that great, appearing to be a mishmosh of several monsters easily identifiable if you watch as many horror movies as I do. That being said, there are still a great number of people who think the Blair Witch Project is a great movie. If you are one of those people, Cloverfield is definitely the movie for you."
By far the most awful movie I have ever anticipated watching.
"With all the previews on TV about this movie, we thought there would be more to this movie than it gave us. My husband got up and left within the first 30 minutes because it didn't seem as if the movie was going anywhere. I agree with others, where did the creatures come from, and why?"
Write a Review
Post your rating and review! Sign in with your CompuServe, Netscape or AOL screen name to post a review. It's easy and free!
Log in Now!
These boards contain member reviews of Movies. Use the Notify links to report improper post. Read AOL Anywhere Rules of User Conduct for more. AOL members: For our full suite of interactive Message Boards, Chats, Polls, and member stories, go to keyword: Movie Talk.
 |
