Watch this while it's in cinemas...

Rating: 8/10 (10 February 2008)

I went to watch Cloverfield with low expectations. I expected to watch the film, appreciate the hand-held camera gimmick as far as I could and leave feeling a little nauseous. I was insistent on seeing it in the cinema though, rather than waiting for the DVD release and facing a far inferior experience.
Maybe it was partly due to my own cynicism but I was extremely impressed.
There is much more humour here than I would have imagined. Hud (T.J. Miller) is our socially awkward cameraman and, thanks to him, this movie becomes much more than the typical "giant monster" movie. It might be a British sense of humour that finds it funny but at times I was in hysterics.
The romance at the centre is no longer the generic sort where the good-looking girl is captured by the monster. The personal camera idea works exceptionally well in making everything feel very human and real. At times you do actually feel directly involved in the action and the friendships. When the humour suddenly stops and things 'hit the fan' I was stunned. It all emphasises the way catastrophes aren't anticipated, they just happen when we least expect it and feel safest.
Some people will be annoyed with 'the monster'. I'll say little about it for two reasons - I don't anyone to feel their experience has been ruined and I can't really find that much to say. It's a monster. It does what you expect. It's big and it smashes things.
Obviously the concept of the movie isn't an original one. 'Big bad monster attacks Manhattan' has been done so many times. It's the personal side of the movie that gives it just enough originality. The audience know that whatever they see is through the eyes of a character and that is a comforting thought. There is someone else there, with you.
Some have accused the film-makers of exploiting post-9/11 paranoia. There is an element of that in there but I don't see that as a bad thing. You feel as if you are in the middle of a disaster, rather than watching someone else filming a disaster, which is an interesting feeling.
I don't tend to like the big budget monster movies. The Godzilla remake didn't thrill me. I wasn't remotely interested in the remake of King Kong. This, for me, has a lot more to it.
Sequels are on the cards, I just hope they don't kill off the Cloverfield concept when this film alone works so well.
In the end I wasn't feeling any nausea, just glad that I'd taken a chance on a film I didn't have massive confidence in.