Very enjoyable

Rating: 8/10 (6 April 2010)

I thought the entire concept of the movie was very well done: A guy is going away so his friends decide to document his surprise party, and by accident they capture extraordinary events on film.
The movie was very believable, meaning the characters respond to a catastrophic event in a very believable way.
Through the taped over bits we can see that Rob is very much attached to Beth, which explains his guilt to shooing her away from the "safe-zone" that was his complex.
They begin a trek to safety only to walk right into the middle of everything happening. Through tragedy we see Rob's future sister in law loses the survivor instincts she had in the beginning, and decides to help Rob, who's also overcome with grief and regret, find Beth.
The cameraman is there because he has to support his best bud.
The special effects were incredible, you feel like you're on the front lines of this spic battle.
The script bounces from digression to situational, which is realistic for a group of friends scared, tired, and overcome with grief.
Overall the movie is very much Godzilla in its nature. But where Godzilla follows scientists trying to find answers, and being scripted to know everything about the creature, Cloverfield takes the approach of the collateral damage of a supernatural event; it follows characters who have no idea what the hell is going on, and don't want to know. They just want to find their friend and get the hell out of NYC.