Cloverfield’ is worth the money

I like art movies as much as the next film snob. But I also like action films. And no action film in recent memory is more kick-ass than “Cloverfield. ”

Produced by “Lost” producer J.J. Abrams , and directed by former “Felicity” director Matt Reeves, “Cloverfield” had a hard challenge to meet: be as good as the marketing promotions, which have been online for the past several months, suggested it might be.

“Cloverfield” is every bit that good and more. A blend of digital and real-life filmmaking, Reeves’ movie follows a simple script: A group of friends gather at a Manhattan apartment to honor a friend, Rob ( Michael Stahl-David ), who is moving to Japan.

Then about 20 minutes into the film, something happens. Some sort of an explosion disrupts power. Everyone gathers on the roof to check things out, and pretty soon they discover that things are worse than they could ever have imagined. Before we know it, Rob and his closest friends are off trying to save Rob’s girlfriend ( Odette Yustman ).

What’s clever about the film is how well the script, by Drew Goddard (who’s written for Abrams’ “Lost,” for “Alias” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” ), blends a bit of romance, a dash of comedy and a lot of horror into a total work of entertainment.

It’s a bit of “War of the Worlds,” “Alien” and “Godzilla,” underscored by 20-something angst and too many contemporary cultural references to count, set against a backdrop that is pure 9/11 , what with buildings collapsing, dust clouds obscuring the light, papers floating through the streets and a New York citizenry caught in an ongoing panic.

The only thing that holds the film back is a larger context. Something political, maybe, as in the Bourne series and its criticisms, implied and obvious, of the U.S. intelligence community. Or historical, as in Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth” and its interpretation of the Spanish Civil War.

But as a pure concept film, one that gives us a street’s-eye view of the kinds of movie situations that have been around since the 1950s, “Cloverfield” is tops.