Big, fun, loud, adrenaline rush with 3 minor problems (spoilers)

Rating: 6/10 (19 January 2008)

When I first saw the TV spots for this film I knew I was going to see it. I got the premise: Blair Witch meets Godzilla... or whatever the heck that was. Cool. It was worth staying up for the midnight showing and I had a good time. But I really had to work to get past a few strategic faults. Since this film requires the viewer engage their own imagination to be truly effective, any break in suspension of disbelief sort of kills the moment. I know this is Monday morning quarterbacking, but:
Problem 1. Character Context. Why not make the protags a news crew on assignment or some kids doing an amateur shoot in the street when they get caught up in the attack. It would have made more sense than the going away party scenario and the camera handlers dedication to catching the action would have been more logical. It would have also provided an excuse for more concise narration. They could have still kept the romantic back story, just put it in the context of a film crew. And speaking of back story:
Problem 2. Cumbersome Back Story. Like in Blair Witch this film requires the viewer to participate in the illusion and it can be much more engaging because of that. But when they have to keep developing the romantic back story it strains credulity. Their method was clever, the bits of erased tape etc... and in the conclusion of the film it provided an emotional note. But it was a bit overplayed, gave the protag a frantic Ahab tone, and some of the tension and illusion gets strained during their rescue mission and in it's IMO overplayed conclusion.
Problem 3 The Pay Off Shot. One of the big complaints about Blair Witch is that there was no pay off shot, you never saw whatever was killing everybody. I understand the appeal of the final visual, but IMO that is the mistake here. The monster in your imagination is always worse than the one you see. So the initial chaotic shots we saw of the monster and it's creepy off spring.... or whatever they were... were perfect. Established it's horrific majesty and maintained the illusion that this was actually happening. But then they give the pay off shot right at the end. Bad move IMO. It diminished the beast in my eye and ruined the illusion of reality.
But all that not withstanding, it was still a lot of fun. Major adrenaline. 8 for concept. 6 for execution. Make sure the theater has ample sub woofers for full effect.