Interesting dichotomy

Rating: 7/10 (20 June 2008)

Seems like people either really loved or really hated this movie. I wonder if that depends on age, previous exposure to this type of hand-held camera filming, or level of cynicism. I thought it was a great love story, an exciting monster movie, and had a memorable ending. But I also thought it was filmed for 20-somethings, who are the only ones with brains jittery enough to catch all the dialog, asides, incidental events and so on that are thrown at you. I'm in my 60s, so the jitteriness was hard for me to follow, but I still loved it.
The camera dude, Hud, was an interesting character. He reminded me of Samwise, not too bright, but dogged devotion, and he had a goal, he knew it was important to film everything so people would know what happened. I kept waiting for him to drop the camera and run, which anyone in his right mind would have done about 6 minutes into the attack, but of course there would have been no movie then. I found him pretty amusing.
I also enjoyed Rob's character, he was heroic in his determination to rescue his girlfriend. It was admirable, and a sweet love story in the midst of the destruction. Many have said it was cheesy and clichéd, which may be true, but love is still a potent force and I love watching heroes. Anyone who wasn't moved by the ending has to be heartless.