Holy Moly Batman!!!!

Rating: 10/10 (1 February 2008)

Obviously this movie will be compared to all sorts of things but overall it's a refreshing reminder that thought provoking film making is not dead in the USA. The movie has just opened today here in Blighty and I managed to see it without knowing anything too revealing and it blew me away. Obviously it will be bracketed with utter sewage such as 'Godawful' and that idiot Spielberg's vomit inducing travesty 'War Of The Worlds' but it leaves that tripe way behind choking on its exhaust fumes as it 'zoms' off in the distance with a finger in the air. Doffing a cap to 'The McPherson Tape' and 'Blair Witch' the movie follows the day of a bunch of well off kids having a farewell party for a mate and brother of one of the main characters. I have been to a few wild parties but this one is an unforgettable bash that changes the lives of our revellers in ways they never quite imagined. It's said there was no great character development but it was an 80 minute movie so what can you expect but I did like the way that the director gave us a bit of an insight during the first ten minutes into the main characters and I for one did like them. They were nice people ..via the medium of a guy with a camera and a bit of party gossip we found out enough to know that these guys were OK. Developing the characters in a similar way Chicago writer Jim Cherry introduced his characters in his excellent novel 'Becoming Angel' we discover they were human just like the rest of us and I for one particularly liked Hud the cameraman and the little elfin 'Winona' lookalike Marlena who he quite fancied. And in those first few minutes I found I actually cared about the people in the movie unlike the pathetic attempt of someone like Spielberg to make us give a rats butt about fake ordinary working guy (we know this cos he drove a crane for a nanosecond) Tom Cruise and his family of retards. Where the film scores is in the way the sense of dread develops and never lets go until the last frames. With a rumble we begin to realise that this is no ordinary farewell bash and as the city explodes around them the party goers are off on a flight for survival that had me on the edge of my seat. It was a truly traumatic journey that eventually took us to Central Park and the films climax and the camera work had me feeling I was there with them but glad I was sitting in a nice comfortable seat in a Middlesbrough cinema. Hollywood blockbusters tend to leave this viewer ambivalent when it comes to the end of these kind of movies. Steve Cheeseburghers pitiful WOTW a perfect example 'yeah millions died but we can take solace in the fact Tom Cruise family escaped without a scratch and Boston was looking nice'. Movies like 'Godawful', 'War Of The Worlds' and 'The Day After Tomorrow' never seem to convey a sense of loss but Cloverfield does. I actually felt regret at what was happening rather than 'OK he's dead where are the freaking dinosaurs?'. I liked that about this movie. The final frames were rather poignant and touching and added to the sense of loss brilliantly reminding us that sometimes we need to take our life chances as we never know when a bloody great monster is gonna screw up our day and stomp our town flat.
Best way to see it is without reading any of these reviews and keep away from the internet but ignore the nay sayers this is a bloody awesome movie which will sadly be watered down by pitifully weak sequels.