absolutely great! clever, exciting and a cut above the rest

Rating: 10/10 (18 January 2008)

I thought Cloverfield was so far superior to any "monster" movie; American, korean or Japanese that has been made in the past 30 years, it isn't even comparable. Any reviewer that claims that "the host" is a better film should, in my opinion, put down his/her reviewing pen permanently.
Cloverfield was filmed brilliantly, edited seamlessly, and executed in a way that draws the viewer in and makes you forget you are watching "scenes". And dare I say the acting (for the little there actually was... i mean this isn't "There will be blood"... ) was great.
I felt all the deliberate visual references to 9-11 were done cleverly and tastefully, and were done to bring home the suggested "reality" of the situation and not, as some reviewers said, to exploit our emotional connection to these images.
The characters are not too well drawn, i don't think they should nor needed to be. This is a story about survival in disaster and had he/she been further flushed out his/her relate- ability would have been compromised. The camera man was well drawn (quite quickly) as just quirky enough for his role, as self imposed documentarian, to be totally believable.
The action was fantastic, mind bending and disorienting... I loved every second of it.
I don't want to write any spoilers, so I will end this here, but do yourself a favor and buy into the hype, see Cloverfield. Citizen Kane it's not... but i promise it's a really fun ride!