Disappointed

Rating: 6/10 (21 January 2008)

The movie, despite (and certainly not thanks to) the shaky camera was enjoyable. But did it live up to the hype it tried to generate? No, at least not for me. Not even close.
The Story can be summarized in just one sentence: "Giant Monster attacks New York and a bunch of friends are caught in the middle." This is what is generally called a "pitch" in the Hollywood biz, and it is supposed to generate interest, and make you want to know more.
Alright. There's been worse teasers in the past. But what's -beyond- this pitch, this one-liner? I mean, you gotta have a script, a story, right? Not here, I am sorry to say. This one sentence, this "pitch", -is- the story, from beginning to end. Oh there are some great moments, visually very impressive, and even some genuine scares (fewer than some people might have you think). But in the end it's going nowhere fast. If you could imagine the bastard child of Godzilla (the Emmerich version) and "Friends", that'd be it, also thanks to the weirdly out of context "humorous" comments made by the cameraman (who, for someone intent on filming "how we all went down", is doing one hell of a crappy job at letting us see what is going on. I swear he was shaking the camera on purpose at times).
Acting is suitable, certainly not Oscar worthy, the script nonexistent, and some rather stupid decisions made by the characters will rapidly leave you uninterested in their fate, letting you picking while talking with your friends who did which "most stupid" action or decision.
In the end, the movie will be probably a hit due to teenage interest in great FX, mix of action-horror (kinda "light" on the horror side) and the bunch of friends stacked against impossible odds. Some could also mention the same recipe used in Lost (more questions than answers thrown in the mix) and doing something "just because it sounded cool at the time" and let people think there is something deep behind it. No wonder with J.J Abrahams at the production.
This being said, rarely have I seen such a vacuum of a story put on the big screen, and that is saying something.
In the end, I cannot bring myself to rate "Cloverfield" any higher than 6, despite having genuinely enjoyed some moments, between the headache inducing camera moves. Great visuals and a few scares do not a movie make. If you look for great visuals, an actual story where you care about people and that makes you think, try to find a theater where "The Mist" is still playing. You'll thank me later.