Cloverfield a mystery still

Rating: 8/10 (4 February 2008)

I have been following some of the hype surrounding this movie since the end of last years summer, when people where questioning, right here on this board I might add, what was this monster Godzilla, Ctuhulu (or however you spell it) or even a popular belief a lion (seriously what the freak was up with that!?).
It spurred a lot of interest in me because not only am I of nature a curious person but I also happen to like what J.J. Abrams has been producing and thinking along those lines I knew that we probably wouldn't get to know what this monster was or neither would any plot points be revealed (but hey as the curious person I am I tried my beast to get a teeny bit of information cause let's face it, it was a long wait).
To be honest while sitting in the theater I couldn't help but to feel this story wouldn't be concluded, in the sense that we are used to. There would still be questions unanswered (We are talking about a guy producing LOST remember), but the main story will be delivered not like it's done now a days with movies like Matrix Reloded and POTC: Dead Man's Chest. We get a sense of closure.
Yes, we do not get to know what the monster is, alien or submerged behemoth that clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed. We do not know if it is defeated or not in the end. We don't even get a good glimpse of it. But watching the movie I found that it would ruin it putting in such information in, people tend to forget that this movie does not focus on the monster but a certain group of people, about loss and hope. Not giving up and staying together in a situation that can only be explained as surreal and terrifying. The threat of not knowing what's going on is a lot more unnerving then knowing what is going on. People fear what they do not know.
I for one felt satisfied with this movie, it gave me everything I was promised, I do not care for it's creation but for the people running away from it. A hand held camera was exactly what this movie needed, it made the camera a person in this whole ordeal, making an objective camera we'd just get nice objective shot that esthetically may be beautiful but lack the soul, you do not need to focus on everything or what can be initially meaningless (the monster). This is what for me exactly the 98 movie Godzilla did wrong they focused more on the monster then the people.
Forget the term monster film and see it for what it is, do not search the monster but the bonds that tie the characters together.