Not a bad film, but...

Rating: 6/10 (28 February 2008)

Whilst this film is not exactly bad, I can not say it is particularly good either. The main reason for this I thought that it was full of plot holes and obvious events, as well as making me feel decidedly sea-sick! Part of the film's problem is the fact that it took so long to get going. For a film as short as this the opening party scene seemed to go on for hours, and was the kind of party that I would personally have avoided like the plague! In fact by the time the action actually got going I was already wishing for most of the party goers to 'bite the dust'! When eventually the film did get into its stride the comparisons with 9/11 were so blindly obvious to be quite painful. The falling building, the rubble and dust rolling down the street etc could not have existed before that dreadful day and the subsequent TV coverage. Following on from this the film really became not much more than a chase movie, with a lot of running - and I mean A LOT OF RUNNING! - about, plenty of screams and some really dumb actions by the characters.
The most puzzling part of the film for myself was when the surviving lead characters went into the subway system. Now surely, with New York being attacked in the manor it was, this system would have been heaving with like-minded souls attempting to escape from the happenings on the surface? Yet when they got down there they were the only ones. As for what happens down there, well I would spoil it for those who have not viewed the film yet, but to say they were obvious is like saying Manchester United play in red at home! The few things that save this film from being a complete duffer is the special effects. The monster, which is only slowly revealed, is really quite scary, and the destruction is well done. The action, when it gets going, is fast and furious, and the acting, whilst never being Oscar worthy!, is not bad for a film of this type.
Of course I am sure that there is a whole essay to be written about this film - and others like the recent 'Invasion', 'I am Legend' etc - and the whole post 9/11 scenario, but I will leave that to much more learned minds than my own! Surfice to say that if you are willing to leave your brain at the box office, and can cope with the opening party scene full of horrid little people, then this film offers up a reasonable amount of entertainment.