Running scared - right to the top of the box office

Rating: 10/10 (17 February 2008)

I love it when you go to the movies to see a film that you know very little about - The Sixth Sense was one and look how that turned out. With Cloverfield there was so much mystery and so many rumours I avoided everything but the trailer until I went to see it.
The movie starts off with Robs farewell party which is shown quite a bit in the trailer. It is there we meet our cast - Rob, his true love (which unfortunately for everyone he only realises this after the first attack) Beth, his brother Jason and his girlfriend Lily, Hud who acts as the cameraman and sarcastic commentator, a character which you will either love or hate and the girl that he loves Marlena. The characters are all pretty much one dimensional but it doesn't matter - there is no time to delve into their back story and get to know then - we know all we need to know from the party.
After a very quick introduction to everyone the attack on New York begins and the head of the Statue of Liberty is one of the first casualties in the attack. It was one of the most memorable moments of the trailer yet it was still shocking to see it happen so early in the movie.
Following the first attack Rob receives a voice mail message from Beth saying she is trapped in her apartment across town and Rob sets of to rescue her along with his friends. Not since Lord of The Rings have a small group of people out walking suffered so much drama, heartache and action - and it was great fun to watch.
Once you get used to the hand held, unsteady movements of the camera it really added to the panic and chaos. We saw the explosions, monsters (the big one and the small ones) and action from the point of the characters, who were usually running in the opposite direction. This added to the tension and excitement as you were only really seeing snippets of what was really happening in the city - we pass by ambulance crews working on the injured and a mass army operation complete with tanks and loud explosions, but these are only in the background as the main focus remains on our small group of characters reaching Beth's apartment What makes the action work is the fact that the characters are just normal everyday people - they do not produce shotguns or start quipping witty one liners at the danger. They are running for their lives in terror and again this works so well with the unsteady camera - there are no slow-mo Michael Bay money shots in this film!! There are some very memorable scenes such as turning on the night vision in the underground tunnels - even though you knew what was obviously going to happen it was still scary, the death scene in the tent in the army base - I am still not sure what actually happened but I know that it was gross and the helicopter evacuation.
I am not intelligent enough to think of a clever and thought provoking metaphor for the monster attacking New York as that is it not why I go to the movies - I go to be entertained and I left the cinema feeling buzzed, excited and thoroughly entertained by Cloverfield and because of this I would give it 10/10.
My only grip would be asking why the characters walked everywhere - I would've stolen one of the many cars that were abandoned about the streets of NYC - but then again I suppose that it is easy to be critical when you are sitting in the safety of a cinema screen and not running for your life