My review of Cloverfield ** SPOILER ALERT **

[_Scottie]

So I saw Cloverfield tonight.

I feel like this movie was Blair Witch meets Starship Troopers meets Saving Private Ryan meets Signs.

The whole Blair Witch/shaking camera thing was WAY overdone in this movie. About an hour into it, I had to close my eyes or else I was going to throw up. I believe they could have made this still look real without the camera being so shaky most of the time. It should have been level most of the time, with the occasional tilt/running shots.

I didn't feel any sense of anxiety like I did with Blair Witch. I really didn't feel like the characters made any connection with me, although they tried to set up some weak "human" experiences in the first 15 minutes of the party...before the monster attacks. Several of them died, and I didn't feel any sense of loss when they did.

I got the feeling that the director saw the scene in Signs where they videotape the glimpse of an alien at the little girls birthday party, and tried to re-create that. He failed. It is just irritating, and doesn't add to the suspense at all. You catch little glimpses here and there of the monster throughout the first 3/4 of the movie. The last 1/4, you get some pretty good shots of him. And towards the end, it is right on top of the camcorder for a good 30 seconds.

The monster is pretty creepy. It is HUGE, and it's roar will chill your blood. It's hard to describe, but it looks like a lizard, but with super long arms. The big alien drops little mini-aliens (I guess it's an alien. The movie never clarifies what it is), and these look like big cockroaches. They are probably 2-3 feet long, and if they bite you, you get "infected". One of the characters gets infected, and a bunch of guys in haz-mat suits take her behind a screen, where there is a splatter of blood. I don't know if she exploded, or if they shot her.

The plot, in as much as you can call it a plot, is that Rob is leaving for Japan, but is in love with a girl that came to his party. They had a fight, and she left. She calls his cell phone after the first attack and says that she is in her apartment and can't move. He goes into the heart of danger to rescue her, and the others accompany him.

Oh, and 1 other thing I noticed. There is a part where looters break into an electronics store. Of course, all of the guys doing the looting are African American men. What a cheesy stereotype.

Overall, I was disappointed in the movie. It end without ever clarifying what the monster was, where it came from or how they destroyed it...or if it even was destroyed. It just sort of ends. And there just wasn't any sense of suspense. I wonder if the nausea just overrides that? The monster was cool, when you finally got to see it, but it was I wish there was more of it.

I got to the theater early to make sure I got a good seat. That was unnecessary as the theater was only about 1/2 full. That was surprising.

I would recommend waiting until DVD to see this one, just for the fact that you can pause it and take a break for a minute to let your stomach settle.

[_Scottie]

Oh yeah, for some reason, I kept thinking that this is what the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal must look like... :)

[_Mercury]

This movie sucked balls. BALLS.

I just literally got back from being ass raped by JJ Abrams movie.

[_Infymus]

Shaky Cam sucks.

I have a 92" screen and could only watch the first 30 minutes of the Bourne Ultimatum. The shaky cam was just too damn much and I had to turn it off. I finally watched it on my computer where I could make it around six inches.

It is time for shaky cam to be retired.

[_SUAS]

I couldn't agree more about cloverfield. The shaky camera didn'tbother me as much as the movie itself. The movie was too short and I wanted to see more of the monster and some sortof explanation as to where the monster came from?

I say wait for the DVD also. Save your money and time for this one.

[_Gazelam]

From what I've read the monster was freed from an underground cave by an offshore drilling rig.