Very good, but I wanted it to be better!

Rating: 8/10 (25 June 2008)

I'd heard lots of good things about this film and have just watched the DVD version of it. I enjoyed it enormously - the writer, director and actors did a great job, but somehow there was something missing for me.
There are a couple of conceits in the story that are necessary, but just a little annoying. Why do these outer space monsters always attack big cities? Why is it always New York? Yes it looks good having the Statue of Liberty's head rolling down the street, but... And I defy anyone to be under attack from a hardly seen monstrous creature and still try to film it rather than running for their lives. But they're small points.
The hand-held thing is good - it's kind of Blair Witch, but with an actual plot. Occasionally it's a bit wearing, but I really like the way it allows us to see glimpses of different parts of the story and just a hint (mostly) of the monster. The monster itself is a bit bizarre. It's not actually that scary, except for the fact that it's incredibly huge. You don't see that much of it, just the results of its actions. Not explaining where it comes from or why it's here is a great way to unsettle an audience. There's nothing reasonable or even credible about what it's doing. It's just on a rampage and we're in the way. Is it eating people because it's hungry or just because they're there. Given the size of it we can't be much more than an olive starter for the monster, so it's not really clear why it would even bother.
The actors do a great job, with what is really almost an improvised piece (or it sounds like it is - no offence to the writer!) Trying to make these characters real and making an audience care is not easy. And the fact that any one of them can be killed at any time ups the tension (not like your normal stalk and slash film where you can just about tell who is going to die and who'll be in the final reel). And those parasite things are a little too reminiscent of the facehuggers in Alien.
It's a bleak film - there's no happy ending, no tidy tying up of all the plot points and no explanation at all of what actually happened.
I really enjoyed the film - and I can't even really put my finger on why it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. The tension is high, but it didn't leave me gasping in amazement. it just lacks a certain something that would have really racked up the suspense and I think that's a missed opportunity. Still it's definitely a film worth watching.