A pretty good monster movie.

Rating: 7/10 (14 June 2008)

I watched Cloverfield the other night and have to say that I did enjoy it. The movie is all told from the viewpoint of a group of friends with a video camera so maybe avoid watching it on a big screen if you are prone to motion sickness.
Anyway, the film begins at a surprise going away party for a man named Rob who has got a job in Japan and is about to emigrate there so the Manhattan apartment is filled with people having a good time until the power briefly fails and there is a tremor. They all rush to the roof after hearing an explosion only to flee out of the building to the street when debris rains down and the power totally fails.
Once in the street the action really begins and they catch a glimpse of a giant monster on a rampage. The group tries to leave Manhattan via one of the bridges but are foiled when the monster smashes it killing Rob's brother. Rob then decides to go and rescue his girlfriend Beth and his friends follow leading to encounters with monsters and so forth.
The reason I enjoyed this film is because it makes you feel on edge as it is quite claustrophobic because the only viewpoint is through the hand-held camera and I found it quite exiting. It also has a running time of about 80 minutes so it is not dragged out too long. The special effects of buildings collapsing and the monster itself were really good and realistic enough that you don't feel like you're only watching a movie.
I've noticed that this movie divides opinion between those such as myself who can switch off enough to enjoy it for what it is, an hour and 20 minutes of entertainment and those who like to expose improbabilities such as Rob stealing a phone battery from a looted electronics shop and using it in his phone without needing to charge it. Also, the fact that the cameraman films unlikely moments such as when Rob has to tell his mother that his brother has been killed and moments when they are being chased and the fact that a half demolished skyscraper is leaning on another without collapsing.
What gets me about those that enjoy picking films like this apart is that they complain about things like the phone battery, which are plausible as I have bought electronic gadgets that are supposed to be charged before first use but which do actually work for a bit before the first charge and the fact that the tower of Pisa has been leaning for centuries without toppling but fail to mention the biggest implausibility of them all which is the fact that a 100 foot tall monster is rampaging through New York and can't be killed by conventional weapons.
If you don't like implausible plots and dialogue then why do you watch movies? I admit that this film does corner itself by only using the hand-held camera but it was very entertaining. The only complaint that I have is that it ends very suddenly and you don't get any closure. I wonder if a sequel is on the cards?