Lives up to the hype

Rating: 8/10 (7 April 2008)

Blair Witch really does meet Godzilla in epic disaster movie which thrills and entertains.
It must be said that a fine job was done of using viral networking to promote this movie. This built up hype beyond what marketed promotion can ever achieve, but of course has the knock on effect of creating a monster (no pun intended) which may fail to live up to the expectations.
With Blair Witch already having used the same method of advertising, and being of the same filming style, Cloverfield had to hope its product was at least as good as that seminal classic.
And quite frankly, it is probably better.
Cloverfield, in brief summary, sees Manhattan attacked by a huge beast which appears to come from nowhere. Obviously, this basic premise is caked in 100% fantasy but there are clear 9/11 overtones throughout, particularly the main characters coughing in dust-dense air, but these real life comparisons should end there.
This movie is fiction, and is about a group of 20 somethings as they desperately try to survive the onslaught, and of course, the main selling point of the story is that it is all told through the camcorder one of them has, in order to document the whole ordeal. There is no 'fancy' and glossy Hollywood celluloid here, it is all through the eye of a 'gritty' camera. Of course, the wonderful benefit of this is that by having the 'real' look, the actual special effects also manage to convince entirely. Under a glossy movie, it is that bit less convincing, but out of this kind? It really works much, much better - same budget, but real look.
The acting is also extremely good, and frankly barely even looks acted - the real look correlates to how the performances come across - they look terrified, confused, and there are even moments where dialogue seems improvised or 'stumbled' - further increasing the realism instead of pristinely articulated lines.
A love story is even thrown in for good measure, but rather than being cheesy, it fits well - indeed, the whole movie just fits - and even manages to amuse in places. Hud, in particular, with his inept and ignorantly awkward conduct, provides many laughs.
This really is a great movie and a hell of a lot of fun. Yeah, it's only 74 minutes or so long, but I'm not sure more could have been added to it to lengthen it, and of course there's the point about the camera's battery life. Further realism.
I highly recommend this one unreservedly.