Cloverfield

When this movie first came out, there was talk of it's political agenda and the similarities to 9/11...in fact, some people I know refused to see it due to these issues. I refused to see it in the theater due to the fact that it is only 85 minutes long...who in their right mind would pay $8-10 to see an 85 minute movie? Other than the possible political underpinings and the short length of the film, I had no idea what it was about when I watched it, which I think helped it to be more enjoyable, so I will try not to give much away. This movie was filmed in a camcorder style similar to that of Diary of the Dead, which I really liked...so I was consistently making comparisons while I was watching this movie. I believe I would have appreciated Cloverfield's creative camera work much more if I had watched it prior to viewing the Diary of the Dead...not that they are similar in any other way, but I felt like the style had been done. The plot was not exactly unique, as it has been done several times before in every monster movie ever made...but what is unique about this movie is the way the story was presented. A monster movie has never looked like this before, and has never made me experience such intense emotions while viewing. I loved that this film followed the people who were experiencing the tragic event in their city as opposed to following the event itself. However, I never felt attached to the characters...except the one behind the camera (who I thought was very fun), which I think is poor character development. Overall, I'm giving it 3 pigs...definitely worth seeing, if you like that sort of thing.