Massively Overrated (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)

Rating: 6/10 (5 April 2008)

I went to see this film after seeing rave reviews and hearing my friends talk about it as if it were the second coming of Christ. Personally I was disappointed; while there are many elements about this film that are very good, the main actors, for example, really throw themselves into the seemingly ludicrous subject matter creating a convincingly tense atmosphere, however the film itself does not hold up to scrutiny. First of all the shaky cam style is good for about ten minutes; after forty five I felt a combination of motion sickness and annoyance at the fact that what I was effectively paying to see was a bad home movie. Don't get me wrong I applaud any attempt to do something new and different in film and I really wanted to enjoy the experience but it was just too much; chocolate is good but too much of it makes me feel the same way I felt watching this movie. Second the monster was incredibly disappointing, again the hype would have you believe that it was going to be the terrifying hybrid of King Kong, Godzilla and every other Thing From Outer Space to smash their way across the silver screen. What we actually get, however, looks like a poorly rendered lump of snot on legs. I feel a bit conned by this, I wanted something that would give me chills not make me laugh. Then you take into account the addition of those little spider things that drop off it like furry drops of sweat and make people's stomachs explode; in which universe did the designer honestly think that anyone would find that scary? In an age of slasher films and zombie apocalypses exploding stomachs just looks silly. This movie wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't amazing; it was OK. It is an average monster movie dressed up as an indie art-house horror movie and that is all it is. The only genius that J J Abrams has shown here is his ability to whip the international film community into a lather over anything he does. If you want a monster movie there are far more capable ones out there though I will hand it to him; P T Barnum hasn't got anything on J J Abrams.