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Cloverfield

What it's about:

Huge creatures of unknown origin attack Manhattan, causing the population to flee as the military try to defend the city. A small group of partygoers trek across the ruined city in search of an injured friend, as one of them records the whole event on his camcorder.

What we thought of it:

Cloverfield can be basically summed up, in the best possible way, as Blair Witch Project meets Godzilla. It's a monster movie on a grand scale, shot entirely on a camcorder from the point of view of a partygoer following a few friends through the smoking ruins of Manhattan.

Taking the documentary style of Blair Witch Project, but from a single camera carried by one of the protagonists, Cloverfield is pretty much a single shot (with the occasional camera glitch) from start to finish. Marrying big budget action and special effects with this pseudo real style eschews all the clichés of your standard action/sci-fi and ups the tension. Rather than smirking along with some square jawed hero as he gets in close to stab the gigantic monster in a weak spot, you are put in the midst of the action, ignorant of what is happening, yet trying desperately to stay alive while people around you are dying like flies.

The acting and dialogue are painfully real, and each death feels more like seeing a real person in a car accident than seeing an obviously scripted 2D character bite the dust. In keeping with the cameraman's desperate flight, there are never shots that dwell lovingly on explosions or monsters, and Cloverfield is all the more effective for it, as the pace goes from brisk to frantic in a matter of minutes, and doesn't let up until the end.

Admittedly neither giant city-destroying monsters nor faux documentary stylings are new ideas, but together they create something quite amazing. It's an entirely fresh take on the big budget blockbuster and by far the most exciting movie to come along for some years. Conceptually and in its delivery, Cloverfield is nothing short of brilliant, but be warned: if you suffer from motion sickness, you might want to think twice about this one.

- Ivan Sadler
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