Excellent, Take the Movie for What it is!

Rating: 8/10 (18 January 2008)

Cloverfield brings a whole new take on the dying monster genre of films. First off take the movie for what it is. It is a home-movie type filming style that represents the YouTube generation being obsessed with capturing everything on video. Thus, naturally questions that people had prior to the movie could not be realistically answered as the movie's plot or story is simply being in the midst of a giant monster attack in New York City. We know as an audience as little as the main characters do about what is happening which is a good thing that fits the story. The movie can not spoon feed us every answer to all our questions, because that is not the point of the movie. The point of the movie is not to tell us the origin of this monster and why it is attacking the city. The main characters our likable enough to carry you through this experience. The main character in a sense is you or Hud (guy filming event) experiencing this giant monster rip apart the city. Let's be honest there is plot loop holes and some unreal situations, such as Hud filming this event and not putting down the camera, but it is a movie! Overall this movie utilizes an effective hand held filming style that has not been done since Blair Witch, which brings a shockingly realistic feel to the movie reminiscent of 9/11 images. Take the movie for what it is, an experience that will still leave questions, but nonetheless an excellent frightening tale of a group of New Yorkers being attacked by a 4 legged-dinosaur like monster whom unleashes all his rage on the city reviving the giant monster genre.