The Review: Cloverfield

Rating: 10/10 (23 January 2008)

Cloverfield could probably best be summed up as a breath of fresh air.
Walking into Cloverfield, I had known about some of the hype, and had know about it for awhile (A relative was heavily into it), and I am happy to say it is as good, if not better than hoped.
I do believe the hype has helped how good it is. If you followed everything, the film is much more real to you than someone knowing there was an explosion in the commercial. But if you didn't follow the hype, you can be sure it will still be a good movie.
I would like to mention, though before I get into the hardcore part of my review, that A). I will not spoil the monster many have wandered about and B). Be weary of negative reviews, because after asking people, I've noticed, quite ironically, that the people who don't like it the most, are all in school, aka the people who are most hardcore about YouTube.
Now, this movie has been most popularly called a mix between The Blaire Witch Project and Godzilla. Though there are heavy elements between Cloverfield and these films, that comparison isn't quite right.
This movie is not a rip-off. It is more like an original movie made out of Unoriginal parts. The film does do the hand-held, first person point of view like Blaire Witch (which was the reason for many negative reviews, and for me warning you that if you have motion sickness, don't watch the film), but this movie doesn't screw up the premise. It uses it very well, and doesn't over do it, and puts our very funny comic relief behind the camera.
The film is very intense throughout, and doesn't disappoint on it's monster. The monster is used like Jaws is used, only with a little more seeing, and this ends my talk of the monster.
Another warning, is that you must know that this isn't played like a movie, or a documentary. It's played like a tape found after the incident nicknamed "Cloverfield".
This movie won't have a formulaic (for the most part) story, so don't expect Hollywood endings or development, but more like real people in real situations. That is the main reason overall why people didn't like it, because they expected a Hollywood picture or '98 Godzilla. DON'T. THIS IS NOT THAT KIND OF FILM.
Overall, the film was very exciting, realistic, and the characters aren't character's, but real people (to creep you out more, go to their Myspaces).
I highly enjoyed this film, and protect it from haters. See it with a fresh mind.
Rating: *** (of 4)
Entertainment: PERFECT 5 (of 5)