Fast, frantic and fun- Cloverfield review

Don't worry, this will be spoiler free.

First of all, I loves me some monster films when they're done right. Secondly, monster films are seldom done right. Thirdly, monster films are even more seldom done as "right" as Cloverfield.

I went in with a lot of concerns and questions. Will we get a clear shot of the monster? If so, will it look like freaking Godzilla. Where did the creature come from? Stuff like that. I won't answer any of these questions here because, obviously, finding out through experiencing the film is a huge part of the fun...This is really hard to write when I'm trying to tiptoe around everything.

I'll just say this- the acting is pretty dang good considering the talent pool, the hand cam usage works very well and, though it appears impromptu, I imagine it took a lot of work to get it to look that way. Much of the dialogue is sharp and the action is extremely frantic. The movie runs at only 80 minutes, but everything crammed into that time makes for a complete and enjoyable experience.

Rather than shove a bunch of messages about the dangers of nuclear weapons or what happens when we play God down our throat, Cloverfield simply drops the viewer into a seemingly ordinary setting where everything gets turned upside-down by an utterly extraordinary chain of events. You're kept just as off guard as the folks on-screen and, as it turns out, this method is more effective than any heavy-handed attempt made in the past.

To sum up, you gots to go see Cloverfield. This is one of those big movies you don't want to miss on the silver screen.