Movies -- Cloverfield

So this afternoon I ventured out into the melting snow and caught the day's first showing of Cloverfield, J.J. Abrams big monster movie.

As seen in the trailers that caught our attention last summer, it's shot in first person, Blair Witch Project style. If you liked that movie, as I did, you'll dig this one. It doesn't quite bring up the scares as Blair Witch did very effectively, as in Cloverfield you do eventually see the monster chasing our protagonists, very clearly. If you really, really hated Blair Witch, I can't imagine you'll like this, either.

I can't speak to people's complaints of motion sickness, as I don't get motion sick.

As I said, there are only a few scenes that give real scares; a lot of the rest is basically a thriller, with the protagonists making their way through Manhattan for various reasons as the strange creature from somewhere else makes its way around, destroying all in its path. The opening twenty minutes or so (a going away party for one of the protagonists) let you get to know the people you'll be following around, just enough to feel bad for them, but personally, this never really rose much above "just a monster movie" for me.

But it's a cool enough monster movie.