Brilliant

Rating: 10/10 (2 July 2012)

I'll start off by saying my expectations for this film weren't entirely high. Normally, I hate POV-camera movies. 'The Blair Witch Project' was really disappointing, and 'Paranormal Activity' was just boring. But 'Cloverfield' did what these films didn't. You will honestly stop thinking that professionals made this; after not long you start to honestly think you are there with the characters, seeing what they see. The photography captures everything; the camera-work feels deep, and in one scene, even, in which our heroes are atop a very high ledge, we could swear we are scared of the height too. The film is alive.
The writing is very clever and the characterisation is very rich. Every time we lose a hero, we feel it hit home hard. Whatever the characters feel, we also feel. It's very connected.
There are some very good tricks in there, too. The style in which the aliens are photographed makes the film all too more exciting and scary. The film feels exhilarating, and I was certainly very pleased.
Another point of greatness is the short clips of the other film on the supposed tape. This is a very clever device used by the film-makers to make us want to see more, to identify with the characters, and it works incredibly well.
'Cloverfield' was a much better film than I had hoped, and I do recommend it. It's possibly the most effective POV-found-footage film ever made.
9.6/10