Godzilla On Steroids With Attitude

Rating: 7/10 (4 October 2012)

*This review may contain spoilers*
Wow! Cloverfield's ferocious alien invasion started off on a perfectly wonderful note with the creature literally knocking the Statue of Liberty's block off.
Yeah. I couldn't have thought of a better way to get the ball rolling in this surprisingly well-done Sci-Fi/Horror film. I must say that seeing that treasured national monument irreparably damaged was a really nice touch.
Kudos to director Matt Reeves on that one.
Since I already knew in advance that this film was yet another shaky, hand-held camera production, I was all prepared to hate it as much as I ultimately hated the likes of Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project.
But, alas, I am pleased to admit that I was quite entertained and pleasantly satisfied with what Cloverfield had to offer me as its final product. I mean, this was clearly no low-budget production.
Yes - Cloverfield certainly had its share of terrible moments (like the pure asininity of Rob Hawkins' rescue mission of Beth). But, with that stuff aside, the level of panic and mayhem generated in the story was nothing short of excellent. And, that, coupled with some superb, ass-kicking visual effects had Cloverfield bending over backwards to deliver a considerable sized wallop in the essential categories of thrills and chills.
In conclusion - As it was at the beginning of the alien attack with the decapitation of the Statue of Liberty, I thought that it was a very nice final touch that the entire cast of characters were all dead at the end of the film. I mean, considering what I had to endure from that bunch of cell-phone clinging, yuppie puppies at the beginning of the story during Rob's "going away" party, they all so rightly deserved to be annihilated, one and all.
Bravo to director Matt Reeves for a job well done.