Incredible, unique and, yes, "intense"

Rating: 10/10 (19 January 2008)

I feel a little weird giving this 10 stars, but I'm going to throw it out there, if only because it is completely unlike anything I've ever seen in my life. I've heard that said about many films before, and it's terribly cliché. I use that wording here because, for the first time, it's actually true.
Another cliché I've encountered when reading about this film is that it is "intense." I kind of laughed it off when reading reviews and hype leading up to the release, because I never seem able to lose myself enough within the imaginary world of a film to actually find it intense. After all is said and done, a movie is just a movie, and I've always understood that. With Cloverfield, (another cliché, coming up) I actually felt like I was there. As soon as that first explosion went off, I was there, and it was scary as hell.
The only problem I have with this film is the first 10 minutes or so, in which the acting and interaction between characters seems a bit fake and forced, but the rest of the film will wipe that from your memory. Other than that, just make sure to suspend disbelief, because some pretty preposterous things happen throughout the course of the film. To me, the probability of these events didn't matter as much as the overall spectacle and sensation that the film achieved.
I came into this film just expecting to see an entertaining, so-bad-it's funny film along the lines of a Godzilla movie, since I've been enjoying Godzilla films since my childhood. I've always thought the "giant monster" genre was something that was impossible to make scary or believable, because it's so inherently laughable. Watching this movie in the theatre scared the hell out of me. And movies never scare me.
Go see this in the theatre. It is a one-of-a-kind experience.