Cloverfield

Movie Title: Cloverfield

Genre: Sci-fi Thriller

Starring:
Michael Stahl-David
Mike Vogel
Lizzy Caplan
Jessica Lucas

Review:

Look out!

Eager to find out if the film lived up to the hype and if the magic JJ Abrams has so successfully fleshed out on TV (think Felicity, Alias, and Lost) translates well on the big screen (he was mildly successful in MI:3), I went out and saw Cloverfield for myself. And just as the ticket seller was handing out my movie ticket, she blurted out a disclaimer about how the movie was filmed like a handheld camera was used, and that it is not the fault of the theater's film projector if it drove me nauseous later. I said to her, I know...like I knew what I was getting into (and paying for). Let me start by saying that this movie is not for everybody. Not for anyone who enjoys the comfort of seeing film that is shot in focus. And certainly not for anyone who jumps at the sight of a small bug hovering nearby. Because minutes shortly after you've found a good seat, the movie gets into high gear and tries mightily to keep you at the edge of your seat, if not make you squirm uneasily as the characters, played by mostly unknown actors, not only run for cover, but run for their lives. The film succeeds in exposing just enough horror, the monster is not seen in its entirety, and takes you as close to the destruction, and cluelessness as to what is actually happening, as the characters themselves.

reviewed by: Avid

Rating: 7.5
10 - worth dying for!
9 - magnificent; don't miss it!
8 - great movie; worth your time
7 - good movie; very entertaining
6 - passable, if you don't have anything important to do
5 - not worth your time
4 and below - i never knew such movies existed