A total thrill ride...after those first 15 minutes

Rating: 8/10 (6 October 2014)

I almost gave up on this because the first 15 minutes are super annoying. Watching a bunch of young New Yorkers at a going away party through the shaky, jarring point of view of a hand-held video camera. Thankfully I stuck with it though because after those first 15 minutes, when the sh*t hits the fan, look out!
Cloverfield then becomes a total thrill ride as we follow 5 of those partygoers (documentary style) through the city as a giant monster descends on New York. You really feel like you're in it with them due to the unique imagery, reminding me at times of some of the post 911 shots seen on TV. Anyways I ended up getting quite wrapped up in this.
The story is pretty good, nothing too original but because of how its been filmed it feels unique as the army descends, N.Y is evacuated and one of the characters attempts the carnage to rescue his girlfriend.
I loved how the monster isn't fully seen for quite a while (in a 'Jaws' sort of way) this made it much scarier. "did you see that?" "what the hell was that?" I think a lot of the dialogue was probably unscripted here too. I also liked the ending which is left...vague, with lots of questions, so that you're asking yourself "And then what happened?" Would love to see a sequel to this. 5/31/14