Does live up to it's hype

Rating: 8/10 (7 February 2008)

I was a little apprehensive about seeing this movie because of the warnings of motion sickness and the stories I'd heard on the radio during the past week about movie goers being sick in the aisles. I'm personally a little bad when it comes to motion sickness, but I truly didn't find the camera movements that nauseating.
I have seen many comments and reviews about how there is no 'character development' that the camera is 'far too shaky', but those comments and reviews are not taking into account that the movie is meant to be 85 minutes worth of a 7/8 hour period during one evening in New York. It's the perspective of several, scared and confused New Yorkers trying to find their friend and survive.
While the cam-corder style filming has been done in Blair Witch, I found this movie did it in a better manner, causing viewers to feel that they were there with them more than Blair Witch was able to. I found myself thinking during parts of the movie "Grr I need to look right... oh wait, I'm watching a movie". The way it has been filmed in my view, is very effective and just adds to the sinister atmosphere.
Parts of the film are fairly confusing, in the sense that you're not really meant to understand it in some ways. It leaves a lot for your imagination to mull over, and the confusion is that of the characters in the film.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie, and I have to say that I found it more entertaining and thought-provoking than 'I Am Legend', which I also saw recently. I would recommend it to anyone who wants something more than the generic 'monster movie'. Cloverfield has a large scope for it's back story, since it's not explained during the movie what the monster is, where it came from and why?