Better than any other monster-attack film...

Rating: 10/10 (20 January 2008)

So, I've been seeing previews for this film since late last year and the teaser especially had me wanting to see it. What I'm writing tells a whole lot of the plot, so yes, it's spoiler full. However, this first paragraph has no spoilers, and gives an overall opinion over the film. The movie is shot from a hand-held cam point of view, which we all know has been done, but it gives the film genre a new and interesting take. However, if The Blair Witch Project made you nauseous, I don't think this movie is for you. Other than that, I think the direction is amazing. The special effects are nothing less than spectacular, but it doesn't take away from the film's heart. I gave it a 10/10 rating because no movie is perfect, but this has got to be one of the best efforts I've ever seen. Therefore, it does deserve a 10.
The film's first thirty minutes or so establish character development that actually makes you feel for the characters. Rob Hawkins' friends are throwing him a going away party as he's leaving for Japan for his job. It's discovered that he fell in love with his best friend, Beth, and they slept together. However, she brings another man to the party and the tension causes a fight. Beth leaves abruptly, very upset. You also get to know Rob's brother, Jason and his girlfriend Lily. Then you get to know Marlena, a sarcastic girl who has shifty eyes and looks uncomfortable. And of course, you can't forget the guy behind the camera, Hud, who has feelings for Marlena(thus causing her character's development).
A tremor, which some very pointedly point out could be another terrorist attack, sends everyone onto the roof where they witness an explosion that sends things flying towards them. They all rush into the street to discover the head of Lady Liberty being hurled down the street and because no movie is complete without sad humor that defines Americans, people start taking pictures of it with their camera phones. That sent me into giggles.
Fast-forward.
They are then rushed by the military to the bridge leading out of the Island, but while Rob pauses because Beth calls his cell phone, panicked and injured, telling him she can't move and she's bleeding, Rob's brother, Jason goes down when the monster's tail takes a whack at the bridge or something. Marlena, Hud, Rob, and Lily all make it off the bridge where they race to the subway. They all take a moment to grieve when who else but Rob's mother calls. At first at laughed at his "Hiiii Mooom" tone, but then it brought tears to my eyes when he had to tell her about his brother, her son.
Fast-forward.
They decide to take the subway tunnel to Beth's street and try to get to her. Here you hear some of the funniest lines of the movie from Hud and Marlena. They do have a good chemistry together. The tunnel features probably one of the scariest scenes where they are attacked by parasites that came off the giant monster. All in all, they survive with Marlena suffering from a bite and lock themselves in a room. They decide to try the streets again.
When they go up to the streets, they are found by soldiers and taken to a tent. Unfortunately, Marlena's bite causes her stomach to expand and explode(which you don't really get to see because as soon as the soldiers discover she's been bitten, they take her behind a tent, but trust me, the shadows are all you need to see; it's still pretty terrifying.
Fast forward.
Basically, they find Beth alive and remove the metal pipe thing(sorry for not knowing what they're called) from her chest and escape back down the building just in time.
Fast forward.
They get to the last helicopters fleeing the city before it's bombed. Lily is forced into a helicopter by herself and gets away first, supposedly surviving the movie.
Hud, Rob and Beth make it into another helicopter and are watching the monster run from all the things being shot at it. It supposedly goes down in a cloud of smoke and just as Hud is screaming something along the lines of "Hell yeah! That's what I'm talking about" the monster reaches up and promptly smacks the crap out of them.
The helicopter goes down, but Beth and Hud are uninjured. Rob is still alive, but apparently has a bad injury to his leg. (FYI, this survival is entirely possible, look it up if you don't believe it.) Anyway, the monster comes right in front of them and apparently chews Hud to death before spitting him back out. Rob and Beth grab the camera and flee to a bridge in the park. They document everything that's happened to them just before a bomb or something lands on top of them. The camera gets stuck under some rocks, unable to capture anything, but you hear Rob and Beth exchange their final "I Love You's" before supposedly being blown up and dying. However, people are already disputing this because after the credits, you hear someone say "Help us" played backwards sounds like "It's still alive".
My complaints with the movie are far and few between. The movie has some obvious plot points that have been used before. For example, when being attacked in the tunnels by the parasites, Marlena comes back to help Hud by beating one off of him instead of running. Later, this is addressed by Hud who says,"You could've just run, but you didn't." Clearly, that's generic, but it's completely forgivable in this movie. All in all, I recommend this as long as the camera work doesn't bother you.