Great monster, the rest I'm not too sure about

Rating: 6/10 (21 January 2008)

Supposed found footage of a civilian's eye view of a monster invasion of New York. Beginning at a party the action then shifts as something is seen and felt invading New York. When a desperate message is received from a friend trapped in her building several friends head off to rescue her...
I'm of mixed emotions. Certainly when the film gets things right its gangbusters and some of the best film making of its type. When it doesn't work its downright tedious.
What doesn't work for me (aside from a bent sense of New York) boils down to two things. First the twenty minute or so set up is way way way too long. Especially when you consider that the film sans end credits is about 70 minutes. the party sequence goes on and on and on and had I not been waiting for monsters I probably would have bailed. Hud, our cameraman, is a bit of an idiot and I hate that we are trapped with him for most of the film. The other problem for me is that the camera is constantly recording. Hud insists on recording everything at the party and then once things start to happen he constantly has the camera rolling. To be certain if he didn't we'd miss things but I doubt the batteries on the camera would last that long and I get real tired of him filming walking upstairs or down a street with nothing happening except him babbling. Events toward the end, that probably should have not been filmed because the camera would have been dropped, are also seen. (The hand held nature of the film is annoying but its the central conceit of the film so you have to go with it.) I could also go into the deus ex machina sequences (the electronics store looting) that are there simply to move the plot along, but I won't. I kept thinking that had they filmed this with out the conceit of the camera this would have been a better movie.I know that the POV allowed for a cheaper film, but at the same time I wanted to see more. I think perhaps I would have like how it was filmed better had I connected with someone in the film. I really didn't connect to anyone, I don't think we really saw anyone long enough to connect. It is at times like watching someone's wedding home video or home movie. You can see that these are real people but at the same time you're left wondering who are these people. I don't think we're ever really given enough to really care about anyone.
What the film gets right is the panic of the attack. The beasties, completely unexplained, are terrifying because no one knows whats going on. The fact that the film takes place over six hours keeps up the tension of the unknown. the attacks themselves are also really well done because we see only just enough to scare us. The monster stuff is great and probably some of the best giant monster stuff put on film, certainly its better than the American Godzilla which shares a couple of locations. There is a tension that is created that is rare in movies of this sort and when the film is firing on all cylinders the film is very tense and scary. This is the bread and butter of the film, this is the reason the film exists and its very well done.
How do I rate the film over all? I don't know. There is much to love and much to dislike. I know why it is and how it is. I just wish it was better. Is it worth seeing? yes at some point. I know I'll probably get the DVD and watch the monster stuff again. I doubt I will ever really watch the early party sequences. If pushed I'd say 6 out of 10. Some better parts than that some worse. Worth a bargain matinée, but too short (and too uneven) for a full priced admission.