Not Worth Your Money, Time, or Attention.

Rating: 3/10 (24 January 2008)

There are a lot of reasons I could not stand this movie.
The best and most exciting part of the movie was what we saw in the trailers! I felt right there with the characters until they got in the subway. I slowly became more and more detached from the characters and the story after that. The humor was the only thing that kept me hanging on. I think part of the detachment comes from knowing right away that there are most likely going to be no survivors. We expect the characters to die, so we aren't able to worry about their well-being as much as we would if we did not know their outcome.
For the most part, the acting was horrible. Lizzy Caplan and Mike Vogel have a lot to offer, but we know what happens to their characters. Of course, the first ones to go are the best ones who act. Jessica Lucas is one of the worst actresses I have ever watched. She noticeably anticipated her lines, showed almost no emotion, and barely even reacted when her almost-fiancée was crushed. All of this chaos, slaughtering, and destruction is going on, and nobody has a good breakdown until the end. It's unrealistic. Shock is not an excuse to be used for that many people simultaneously.
I understand that we are supposed to be in the moment and just as confused as the characters, but would it really have hurt to have a little bit more explanation? The characters have plenty of time to at least throw around a guess as to what the monster is or where it came from, but they never even think to talk about it. A few people ask, "What is it?" or some form of the question, but it is always avoided. A couple of lines or another random news report with at least a speculation would have sufficed.
The monster was unimpressive. Most views of it were quick ones, but when we did see it close up it was not very realistic looking. Compared to King Kong, a Transformer, etc., the monster definitely could have used a lot of work. It had a slightly animated/pasted on the screen quality to it most of the time. Admittedly, I was freaked out by the mini monsters. They were creepy, but at the same time, they were somewhat unnecessary. They had a slight "Tremors 2" quality to them.
Unlike many people, the camera movement did not bother me. I thought it was actually an enhancing quality for the movie. Whatever kind of camera it is, I want one. It has some sort of force field around it that allows it to go through hell without a scratch.
Was this not supposed to be the scariest and most realistic monster movie ever made? That is what all of the hype told me. Do I think this movie was that? No way, man. After the movie ended, a kid said, "That movie sucked." Almost everyone in the theater started laughing, including me. I have never been to a movie in a theater that was bad enough to receive that reaction. I could just tell when everyone was walking out that a good portion of us were let down. It wasn't the feel-good response I usually see. Do I think this was the worst movie of all time? Absolutely not. I do think it did not exceed the boundary of expectations in any way, either, though. It actually fell very short. Anyone expecting to see something new and innovative is going to be let down, and that's all there is to it.