Cloverfield

Rating: 7/10 (31 May 2012)

As the instigator of pseudo-documentary horror/sci-fi, four-years later, I finally got the chance to watch it, stripped down to the film per se, a 80 minutes running time has testified the audience's extreme endurance toward the dizziness side effect thanks to the unbreakable Super 8 which could shoot 8 hours non-stop, surely with an ultra-battery.
This J.J. Abrams co-produced work was a tremendous success in the spring box office at its time and astutely centers on a firsthand POV of a group of average Joes, facing an unknown monster ravaging Manhattan, in order to keep the DV on the spot, leading by a tacky individual heroism, four friends goes back into the danger zone to rescue another friend in the name of love, clearly casualties are inevitable, but the viscerally thrilling involvement is the chief payoff owing to the vivid participation out of the shaky disturbance along the entire excursion, say the night vision adventure in the metro tunnel is a highlight.
Another great asset is the jaw-dropping SFX of the monster and the aftermath it creates, after tons of SFX mega-products' impetus, this relatively low-budget film could still get some awesome wows which is simply remarkable and at least on an equal level with J.J.'s own DV- intrigued supernatural monster thriller SUPER 8 (2011).
Being a feigned fly-on-the-wall scheme, there is no room for scores except the solemn ending-credit "CLOVERFIELD OVERTURE" from Michael Giacchino, a surprisingly remarkable piece of work which I was not expected at all.
Anyway, I feel lucky I hadn't watch the film in a screen time of a multiplex, I highly doubt myself could sustain the upsetting 80 minutes, which prompts a more innovative wake-up call in the realm of technology progress, we are in desperate seeking of the further development of a stable DV, maybe when that time arrives, a remake will be on the agenda.