Very DISAPPOINTING Film...

Rating: 4/10 (19 January 2008)

This movie should go down in flames with the likes of Godzilla (1998) and The Hulk (Ang Lee). Shooting the ENTIRE movie in 1st POV is AWFUL. This movie had so many JUMP THE SHARK moments. I'm surprised that J.J. Abrams would attach his name to such a bootleg project. In my opinion, the film did not live up to the hype. I had really high expectations for this film. As an avid movie goer, I left the theater feeling robbed. This film SUFFERS from poor directing and a BAD script. It's almost as if the script was unfinished. The shaky camera work was over the top. I went to see a 3:25PM show, it's not 8:30PM and I STILL have a raging headache. I've already taken 3 Motrin.
Overall, I think the film fell flat because I just didn't feel vested in the characters or the story arc. So many things were left unanswered, and it really hurts a film that doesn't have excellent world/story building to begin with. The script basically took a "monster" and dropped it in the middle of an urban area with a bunch of vapid twenty somethings. Maybe if the film had a different director, it could have saved the movie. The movie was shot so poorly, and to the point where it was just no longer believable. Saving Private Ryan is an excellent example of "hand held" camera work that was completely amazing. The same can be said for the I Am Legend, Jason Bourne Series, and War of the Worlds. This film could have used both elements of 1st/3rd person point of view. The fact that the director did not know when to switch between the two is DAMNING. I got the sense that the viewer never has a full scale gravity of what is taking place. The viewer is so focused on the crazy camera work that they miss so much of the emotional connection. These characters didn't mean anything to me. This has a lot to do with a POOR plot.
No back story is given. The powers/abilities of the monster and its darklings is left wide open. Why doesn't the monster die when it is literally hit with several missiles (F-16) and bombs from a B52 Stealth Bomber? It doesn't even die when it's nuked? Give me a break...The viewer has to suspend their disbelief for them to truly enjoy the movie for its own sake. The ending is predictable and abrupt. The movie was killed on so many other points, but a shitty ending is just the icing on the cake.
This is no Independence Day, which was an EXCELLENT movie. When I think of apocalyptic movies, this one won't even make the list. I Am Legend, Armageddon, Deep Impact, etc. all were better than this film.
There can't be a sequel to this movie. It would just be awful, unless a real director came in to save the monster lore. Such a bad job was done on the first one, that I don't think there is anything to really work with in terms of progression and development.
In the end, the movie just didn't grab me and take me for that thrilling ride. Wait for this one on Netflix!