I'll make this simple, Cloverfield is everything that the Blair Witch Project was trying to be, only it's bigger, faster, and meaner. With that being said, Cloverfield also shares one of the biggest complaints of the Blair Witch Project, and that's shaky cam. Now I understand why the camera shakes. This is a movie about a bunch of 20 somethings looking for their friend in the midst of a gigantic monster attack, filmed entirely on a handheld. One wouldn't exactly stop to make sure everything is in focus. The shakiness is there for realism, and that is what makes this movie so unique in my eyes. It's a monster movie that puts you right there in it.
The movie begins with a very important stretch of character development, with scenes that sometime lose focus, but for the most part get the job done in explaining these character's motivation to go back into Manhattan when everyone is getting out. The first 20 minutes is like an episode of The Hills, except the characters are actually interesting, and at the end a gigantic monster comes in and destroys everything they love. If only that would really happen on the Hills. Cloverfield is basically the closest any of us will ever come to actually living through something like this, and from the 20 minute mark on, the movie never lets up that feeling of fear,confusion and intensity. If by some reason you aren't captured by the story,the monster, or the funny musings of Hud the cameraman, then the camera will shake enough to remind that you're watching something intense.
Cloverfield isn't perfect, there are some plot holes, and some miraculous healing of injuries, but the fact that this is a film based on a giant monster attacking New York, basically forces you to leave your understanding of reality at the door. Cloverfield is an experience, a good time at the movies, and a fresh take on a tried and sometimes true genre. It's a movie that needs to be seen on the big screen to be appreciated, just make sure you sit in the back row. It helps with the shaking.
8/10
