"What the heck is going on?"

Rating: 10/10 (20 January 2008)

OK, first off I have some issues with people saying this is a disgrace to America by leeching the "9/11" events to this movie. This movie has nothing to do with the 9/11 events, except that a monster attacks Manhattan. J.J. Adams intent was to create an Americanized "Godzilla" and NOT to remind us of the events on September 11th. I believe he succeeded.
Yes, the movie isn't entirely perfect - there are some flaws I want to point out and no, not the motion sickness or the ending. I looked back at some of the previous reviews and I wanted to throw up more than at the movies. You probably should have done your research and found out that you needed Dramamine before entering the theater. I knew full well that this could have possibly been like a roller coaster ride, so I prepared by not eating an hour before or during the film.
Secondly, the people who think the ending is a disappointment honestly didn't understand the concept of the movie. The entire thing was a HOME VIDEO by an amateur. Sure, the scenes can be nauseating and sometimes not on the action, but that's the way it is in real life. By doing this, you crave to see what's going on and you feel like you're right there, at the base of the attacks.
OK, with that out of the way, here's my review of the "soon-to-be-blockbuster" Cloverfield.
First, the good aspects. The story-line is a very clear perception of what a going-away party would have been like for an average New Yorker. The character's personalities were laid out within the first 15 minutes or so, yet were more fully developed throughout the film. Rob and Beth didn't realize that they loved each other until the very end, but you knew that after Beth called him and he decided to go help her that they did. That is the definition of a true hero, yet they were merely pawns in the aspect of things.
The special effects were what really blew me away. Yes, I saw War of the Worlds and Transformers, where the computer effects were so realistic that you could swear it wasn't a movie; but with the camera work in this film, I have to give the special effects team extra praise. The quick cuts, blurry effects, nighttime scenes, and eventually the monster sightings were done very, very well.
What I really enjoyed about this film was how real it seemed. There was no "soundtrack," other than the white noise of the surroundings. People were constantly frightened and there was as much swearing (as most of us would be doing) as there could be for PG-13.
OK, here's what I believe to be the negative aspects of the film. For one, I thought the monster was shown too much. The first major scene when you see the creature scream as the crew enters the tunnel should have been the only close-up of its face. But I'm sure there are a million of you who have seen the movie who would disagree and would say that you didn't see enough. Ohhhhh, I saw enough.
Also, how the heck did Beth survive when she had that rod pulled from her chest? The amount of blood she could have lost from that would have depleted her ability to stand, but in the film you see her running down Main Street with everyone else. Please. Marlena also seemed to have suffered more than Beth, but maybe the bite wound carried with it some kind of neuro-toxin, which would have put her into almost an LSD state where she couldn't feel pain.
Another thing I didn't understand was why the spawnlings only went after people. The horse that was pulling the empty carriage got away without a scratch and in the subway the rats were not attacked. It was a little cliché that the spawnlings decided to attack once the night vision was on, so that was another thing that ticked me off.
Another thing was the monster attacking the chopper at the end. It just got toppled by missiles and fell to the Manhattan ground, then 10 seconds later jumps up and hits the helicopter. A bit cheesy, but whatever.
OK here's my set of questions which the film did not answer, (but it's fine considering we were shown amateur footage of one group's point of view) 1. Why did the monster decide to attack NYC? 2. What happened to Lily? Did she make it? 3. How did the spawnlings survive the trip and what was their purpose? Were they parasites to the creature or were they with him? *4. How did the footage get recovered? It was under a pile of rubble in the middle of Central Park after the beast was attacked. Who picked it up or even decided to look? The camera couldn't have survived because the filming was stopped and ended so that when you did playback, the Coney Island ending scene was shown.
And finally, the real question that I'm sure all 100% of us who have seen it are going to ask. And no, the question is not 'Did it Die?' but 'Will there be a Cloverfield 2 that shows another viewpoint, and perhaps some intel about where it came from and what eventually happened to it?'
Overall, if you love Monster Movies, have a great inner ear, and want to have your brain teased for an hour and half, then this movie is for you.