2. Better Characters
Okay, so when in my initial viewings of the film, the characters weren't exactly the reason why I had come to the theatre in the first place (like I said, I loved monsters). While I can say with certainty that I was far more patient than the average movie-goer, who was waiting for the monster to show up, I never actually cared about Rob or the others. The opening 20-or-so minutes were merely there to set up the plot and situations that would sort of push the characters along, but we never got to learn much about them outside of their social lives. Who was Rob had a brother named Hawk? COOL, can't wait to see what he brings to the film! Oh wait, he's dead. Alright, well how about Lily, I'm sure she can add something to the quality of the film, right? Nope, while she's there for the majority of the film, I still don't know anything about the character except for the fact that she's Hawk's girlfriend. The closest we get to a likeable character is Hud, who, as his name would suggest, acts as the cameraman for the film, or rather, most of it, anyway. He acts as the comedic relief throughout the movie, often sharing musings of fiery-hobos and possible theories of where the monster had originated, but aside from that, he still doesn't serve much purpose to the story. All of this is, as mentioned before, due to the handicap that's presented by the handy-cam perspective. We're left wondering who we should care about, who to attach ourselves to, but that ultimately amounts to nothing, as we aren't given much time to see them outside of the monster attack. They're all good-looking, GAP commercial rejects who do nothing but run around, risking their lives around for some girl who is only in the film for, at most, 15 minutes. Even she doesn't add much to the movie. Yes, her relationship with Rob is the main focus of the story, but it all feels like generic romantic drivel that's, essentially, set during that period in a (Hollywood) relationship when there's that awkward misunderstanding that's only there to slow the plot down. The characters are simple caricatures. They're all just too perfect to be interesting. Everybody's really seems on board to save this girl who Rob only had a one-night stand with. Yes, I realize that they were all friends, but Jesus, the least they can do is show a little hesitation about going forward with a plan that could very likely end up killing them! As I had said, people will likely react to certain things depending on their personalities. In a large-scale disaster, for instance, people will either keep quiet and alert, waiting for things to cool down, while others are more likely to become belligerent. This is a dynamic that ought to be explored in Cloverfield 2. Of course, it should be a bit more complex than that, far less black and white, but at least keep interesting. A great example of this being done right can be found in George A. Romero's Dead series, particularly his opus, Day of the Dead. Some people are able to keep cooler under the pressure of the end days, but still show some humanity, a little weakness, while others can't handle the stress of keeping humanity alive, going through the throes of depression, or even becoming violent. They feel like real people who we can, in many ways, relate with, because they show the good, and bad, of humanity. The characters in Cloverfield are clearly outlined as being the good guys, and never really break out of that mould. It would've been a nice, almost Lynchian, twist to see them slowly grow out of these personalities to reveal something far darker underneath the surface. Again, this is popcorn entertainment, not some art house production, but the writers could at least push things in a certain direction, rather than trying to remain as non-offensive as possible.