where the F*** did this stunning movie come from

Rating: 8/10 (17 January 2008)

I'd heard absolutely nothing about this movie when me and my girlfriend were at a local cinema stealing their free wireless internet to check some emails. I noticed the movie listed and because I'd already seen or knew I didn't want to see every other movie on the list (yes modern movie making is that bad) and I kinda just felt like sitting in a movie for a couple of hours we thought we'd check this one out. we checked it on IMDb first and no one knew much about it and there were no votes but we thought we'd risk it, a costly thing these days but we hadn't treated ourselves for a few weeks.
The initial few minutes were not promising, not boring or anything but just a handy cam being played back of some teens party. then it all kicked in, and it was an exhilarating ride.
Yes the whole movie is seen through the eyes of a handy cam, yes Blair witch did the same thing, but this is not Blair witch. This is a big movie. the special effects were stunning. The sound was mind-blowing, surround sound (a feature which no handy cam I know of records, but I'm just being picky, i wouldn't want to downgrade the experience with mono camera sound). The concept was handy cam but this was no low budget amateur movie. The picture quality was well better than home movie, the lighting was good, scenes and camera angles all contributing to the story. i.e. they didn't get too hung up on the concept, but used it to make the whole experience non stop edge of the seat thrilling.
The story was nothing much, a love story spread over the main feature, an unexplained massive creature gets p!ssed off and rips Manhattan to pieces. basically Godzilla, but that was the point, it's really a concept movie, nothing more nothing less and as that it succeeds amazingly. this was one entertaining ride and maybe it shows what it would be like to be under siege by enemy forces without having to deal with all the hassles of politics, or maybe it's just a piece of well made entertainment.
Afterward I was slightly disturbed by how this movie was marketed. as in I'd seen nothing of it, and its no small movie. What was their plan?. to get people used to going to see movies on a whim and being pleasantly surprised after years of mostly being disappointed with the dross that Hollywood serves up. I felt kind of manipulated even though in my case there was no manipulation cos I just turned up on a whim and was one of the first people in the world to see it. So I guess I'm playing right into the ad mans hands and spreading the word of mouth to get you to go and see this movie, cos it is what you want a movie to be, something you couldn't experience at home (the sound is amazing and no home cinema or laptop is going to reproduce that).
This is a genre defining great movie. It's entertainment exceptionally well done, don't sit too close to the screen.