An original, fun, intense, brilliant experience.

Rating: 8/10 (28 February 2008)

This was the film I was far more excited about seeing that any other until May. With a great trailer and a weakness for finding out what the bloody thing is actually about I entered the cinema with great anticipation and a sick bag. I was not disappointed (threw the sick bag away, wasn't needed).
So, the movie for the first 20 odd minutes is basically some character development and a basic plot beginning. Girl, Guy, Best Friend, Best Friend's Boyfriend, The Comedy Act, The Comedy Act's Love Interest. Fair enough, it worked. By the time Mr Monster came I was fearing for the characters lives. The acting isn't spectacular, neither is the script, it doesn't need to be, it's a monster attacking New York City, of course there's gonna be a lot of "Oh My God"'s, and "AHHHHHHHH"'s. It worked to create the realism that much greater.
The thing that worked with this movie so well was the hand-held camera style, it created a weird sense of reality and I really felt thrown in to the happenings. The best bits are where the camera supposedly gets turned off and we get previous months footage of the Girl & Guy. Showing, they didn't just use it as a simple thing to add the USP, they really focused hard on making it more realistic.
Another point that worked well was the fact that you never got a clear analysis or full body shot of the beastie itself, snippets of footage and partial body shots really kept you on your seat as there was no "we know what it is, it's human inside". It was literally a big monster, run for your freaking life.
The best scene in the film is definitely the tunnel scene, the fear of unknown theme being used to masterful effect here. The moment the camera switched to night vision you immediately gasp with horror and your heart races, a thing Cloverfield never ceases to do.
With a pretty decent ending and no sugar coated plot lines, Cloverfield doesn't hold back; blood is splattered; characters do die and most importantly of all it doesn't fail to include the army not being the almighty great and shows the monster effectively cleverer and stronger than any man made force. The best about that is, we don't know why it is, same as we don't know where it came from making that realism oh so much stronger.
To sum Cloverfield up in a sentence, I'd say it is pretty much being tied to a heart defibrillator for 1hr and a half. It really is an enjoyable, well made, original piece of cinema that I will never forget.