A fantastic, shockingly authentic depiction of a monster attack.

Rating: 8/10 (16 January 2008)

Most giant monster movies you see are horrible. They are laughably unrealistic, poorly directed, unexciting, cliché, not frightening, and incredibly cheesy.
Cloverfield is not one of them.
Instead Cloverfield treats us to a fantastically thrilling adventure, which depicts a horrifyingly realistic situation, shot in the most believable and frightening manner, with breath taking visuals and is genuinely suspenseful.
The film is shot entirely from the point of view of a small group of civilians via the use of hand held camcorders. Unlike movies such as "The Blair Witch Project", the film is well photographed not relying on overly erratic and nauseating shaky camera movements, but rather has a much more pragmatic style, which allows the movie to both look like it was really shot by camcorder during a monster attack, but at the same time not leaving the audience grasping for straws as to what is going on, or worse feeling motion sick.
Better still, the events that unfold during the movie are entirely plausible. Not once during the movie are you left thinking, "Oh come on as if that would happen". No, instead the movie is encased with realism, from the military weapons, tactics and formations during battles with the monster, to how buildings collapse when struck by the monster, to the choices that the characters make when presented with unimaginable circumstances, to even the reactions that characters have when their comrades are injured or killed. The movie even goes as far as to make extensive use of symbolism of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, such as when a building collapses sending dust and debris rocketing down the street while the characters run inside stores for shelter, to emerge covered with dust.
The plot is immensely character driven. The movie isn't as much about the monster attack, as it is about our main characters trying to deal with this situation. This movie does not dive into the cliché of having the movie be about the military commanders and scientists coming up with theories trying to defeat the monster, but is rather about the problems and turmoils that our lead characters have to go through during this situation. The movie though staring a cast of "unknowns", is wonderfully acted, with all of the cast giving superb performances. When somebodies friend dies in this movie, they mourn and cry over their fallen companion, and when something attacks, they appear genuinely frightened.
Do not let the fact that this is a giant monster movie turn you off. Forget that you ever saw a travesty like a Godzilla (1998) or King Kong (1976), and prepare to be blown away by the extraordinary movie that is Cloverfield.