Almost unparalleled in the genre

Rating: 10/10 (10 April 2008)

I first reviewed this film back in 2008 and decided to update my review nearly a decade later because I STILL watch this film regularly. It is without a doubt my favourite monster movie of all time.
I am a bit of a monster movie fanatic and will watch just about anything in the genre. I'm an especially huge fan of Godzilla (with the exception of the awful 1998 version) and I wince a bit to say I enjoy Cloverfield more than Godzilla, but I have no choice but to acknowledge that it is superior in its ability to completely suck you in and keep you invested in what's happening on screen.
The storyline the film is built around is a bit cliché but it works well as a backdrop to the disaster that is unfolding. It creates some decently believable motivations for the characters and while I wouldn't be very moved by it as a romantic story in any other context, I think it serves its purpose well here.
I think the reason this film works so well is that it focuses on the experience of being inside a monster attack, rather than focusing on all the logistics and militaristic drama of battling one from the outside. This makes the film much more gripping and psychologically tense than other films of the genre.
I tend toward motion sickness and the shaky camera thing bothered me a bit when I first watched it in the theatre but viewing it at home I've not had any ill effects.
I have seen this film a minimum of 25 times, and I know I'll watch it many times more. If you haven't seen it before I recommend checking it out.