Well That’s About The Coolest Thing Ever

It’s always exciting when a movie comes out of nowhere, especially one that looks as compelling as J.J. Abrams’ latest producing effort, codenamed CLOVERFIELD and 1-18-08. Although the film’s artfully enigmatic trailer gives away about as much as its official title (there isn’t one), this much is certain: on January 18 of next year, a giant monster will be attacking New York City. And while a rematch of Big Apple vs. Bigger Monster is, admittedly, hardly a reinvention of the cinematic wheel, I’ve never seen a film take a ground-level perspective of the chaos resulting from a monster attack. It’ll be like seeing the world though the eyes of those screaming people trying not to get trampled in GODZILLA movies.

While I never tire of seeing hapless citizens flee in terror from size 12,000 feet, the reason I’m most excited about this as-yet untitled flick (the studio liked my suggestion of “AAAAAAHHHH! AAAAAHHHHHH! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!” but didn’t think it would fit on a billboard) is because it looks to be the first of the neo-terrorism flicks that I can actually get behind. While 28 WEEKS LATER depicts an entire nation losing itself to mindless rage, WAR OF THE WORLDS provides a striking visual metaphor for the war machine and the upcoming INVASION makes a literal interpretation of “sleeper cell”, the trailer for 1-18-08 is the only footage I’ve seen that recaptures the terror, uncertainty and panic that filled every frame of footage shot on the streets of New York during 9-11.

In much the same way as the Japanese were able to start coming to terms with their country’s devastation at the hands of atomic power by quantifying their enemy as a thousand foot-tall radioactive lizard, J.J. Abrams has sent a monster to destroy New York and, in so doing, allow the healing process begin.

You can check out the trailer on the movie’s official site.