I saw it yesterday with the missus. (Minor spoilers ahead) This was one of the few windows in my schedule in weeks and I just wanted to get away. Anyway, it made her nauseous. Me, I liked it, but didn’t love it. I thought the idea was indeed very clever. The Fair Jessica thought it was even more derivative than I Am Legend — which we both basically liked even though it couldn’t stop itself from turning into a video game promo. I haven’t read much of the criticism and commentary on the movie beyond Ross’s post (which also contains some small spoilers). But I’m surprised that in at least the snippets of discussion I’ve seen over there and in my e-mail, that there’s no mention of the fact the movie so heavy-handedly invokes 9/11. Ross may be right that there’s less social commentary in the movie than Tyler Cowen suggests, though I think I’m more in Cowen’s camp. But whatever JJ Abrams’ larger artistic intent, it seemed obvious to me that the movie was trying to conjure 9/11. The early scenes were almost re-enactments of the dust clouds engulfing New Yorkers. They don’t pull down the World Trade Center in the movie (because it’s not there anymore!), but instead the monster decapitates the Statue of Liberty. Call me crazy, but as far as symbolism in film goes, that seemed pretty easy to read. Good Night America. Flash forward to the end with its “Arcadia” nod and it seems pretty obvious that the film’s making a point about one of several cliches about 9/11 and pre 9/11 America. One of the commenters at Ross’s says that Cloverfield is Godzilla for Generation Y. I think that’s right, but that doesn’t necessarily support the idea that there’s no social commentary in the movie. The original Godzilla dripped with social commentary, it was social commentary.

And now that I think about it, this would be a good topic for my column due today. So, to be continued…