Lives up to the hype

Rating: 9/10 (18 January 2008)

So I just got back from possibly the most hyped movie of 2007, and 2008 thus far, (before Indiana Jones 4!!) and it amazed me. I almost don't know how to explain it. The entire movie was shot using only a hand-held camcorder, high definition, yes, but hand-held consumer quality nonetheless. Some people may criticize this, but I don't see how the story could have been presented any other way. Oh, and the story, nothing I've ever seen before, it felt un- scripted. But was it a bad thing? No. It wasn't like a bad Uwe Boll movie, but the whole feel of it was that this was actually someone taping the events as they unfolded. As far as the story goes...it starts off at a going away party for a friend, the camera man "Hud" is given a camera, and told to take confessions of all the friends at the party, and, not to spoil the movie, an explosion erupts from the center of Manhattan. The crowd guns it outside to the streets, only to catch the statue of liberty's head landing right in front of them. OK, if you aren't already hooked, then stop reading. Anyway the entire time I felt as if this was really a tape found by the US Military (as it was pretending to be). Sorry, I'm gonna stop there I got carried away. And because it was made to look as an amateur video, the camera is constantly shaky, and usually out of focus. The funniest part was before the movie when a staff member told the audience of this fact, and actually offered a refund in the next 30 minutes. All I can do now is wait and see how long it takes for a video of someone taping an already video taped movie, to be uploaded to the internet. As a ending note, many people compared this to the Blair Witch Project, which was also filmed entirely with a hand-held camera, to give the more personal and real effect. I don't know if this had anything to do with that movie, but a line near the end read "I'm so scared." A line almost the same, and made famous by BWP, "I'm so scared I could cry". I didn't.