Synopsis:

The story begins at a going away party for Rob Hawkins hosted by his brother Jason, Jason's girlfriend Lily and Rob's other friends.  Rob is going off to Japan to be a vice president for an unnamed company.  Rob's best friend Hud is in charge of operating the video camera to document the party and take wedding style testimonials from Rob's friends.  The party has its normal share of comedic interjections by friends at the camera and partying buddies just having a good time.  And then...

Act two starts with a violent ground tremor that causes power disruption and panic among guests at the party.  Within seconds power is restored, the news is turned on and reporting starts to filter in about an earthquake near Manhattan's shoreline.  Going to the rooftop to get a better assessment of the situation, Rob and his guests get a birds-eye view of the chaos.  Soon, an explosion is seen and the chaos follows.  Something is attacking Manhattan, but what?

The Freak's Rating: B+ : What makes a film do well at the box office? Marketing, Marketing, Marketing!

Cloverfield is the most cleverly marketed film in a few years, probably since The Blair Witch Project.  1-18-08 was how it was known up until a few months ago, then the mysterious Cloverfield label was added.  Posters, like the one shown on the left, were vague and allowed many possibilities and rumors flooded the Internet.  Facebook and MySpace pages were adorned with wallpapers, pictures and ads for the film.  Along with the marketing similarities, the films' style of scene capture is a near duplicate.

Cloverfield is shot entirely in first-person on handheld-like cameras.  Minutes into the chaos, Hud says, "people are going to want to see this", a telling line justifying his eagerness to capture every moment on film.  The camera is held by various characters (primarily Hud) throughout the film and set down from time to time, but the film is very jumpy in its attempt to convince you this might actually be legitimate footage (remember to suspend disbelief people).  This may bother some people simply due to dizziness.  If you could handle The Blair Witch Project, you're all set.  Some critics are saying it was too jumpy.  To them I say, "take your dramamine sissy".  Let the big boys review it then; it didn't bother me at all.

There is a lot of running, yelling, shooting and screaming in this movie.  Acting is par for the course and nothing more should be expected of this type of movie.  Action sequences are wonderfully produced and the jumpiness only added to my enjoyment of them.  I dare someone to play Resistance on the PS3 and tell me some aspects of the movie aren't ripped directly from it.  I won't spoil any more of the film for those who haven't seen it, only saying the action is intense and my mouth did drop a couple times in amazement at the realism it brought to the screen.  The movie is very entertaining.  With just a little more substance to the creature and some better size ratio comparisons (there were times he seemed huge and times he seemed smaller) this is an A film.

I wanted to see this opening weekend because of the mystery of the film and the film's creature who attacks us.  The Internet will be abuzz with photos, video clips and descriptions of everything in the film very soon and I am happy I avoided the onslaught of spoilers I'll no doubt soon receive.  If this seems like a movie you'll enjoy, see it soon so that the scares are still a surprise.

Scott C's Rating: F : WOW did this movie suck!!!  Whereas The Blair Witch Project was smart, edgy, and innovative, this classic 99 cent bargin bin stinker was overly marketed, badly written, and everything blair witch was not, namely entertaining.
 

Jen's Rating: B : This was a fun movie.  Wow fun is a weird word for a movie that has to deal with a monster attacking NYC.  I guess entertaining is a better word.  This was unique and exciting plus a little scary.  It's not predictable which was great!  Great editing.  Would watch again but wouldn't say I loved this movie.  It was especially nice on the mega screen at the theater.

Nate's Rating: A : Actually I'm a little hesitant to call it an A.  I think an A should stand up to repeated viewings, and I'm not sure Cloverfield will.  Some of the dialog was a little forced, and that will become more apparent when your mind isn't preoccupied with "What the flock is going on!?"  But I'll give it the benefit of the doubt for now.  It's definitely a fun ride.  In fact, I sat in my special "fun ride" posture for probably the last straight hour of the movie.  And that's saying quite a bit.

Sebastian's Rating: B : actually it was well done, it was good enough for south park to rip on it.

The monster was lame but it overall this movie was one of the better american big monster movies, a huge improvement on Godzilla the movie, a terrible remake or the previous japanese godzilla films.
 

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