in the age of the internet, forms of entertainment get a much more celebrated eminence than the titles of the past, those that relied on cardboard cuts and outlandish viral marketing; cloverfield is a shining star among the hyped-up wonders. the list of previous hopefuls include [but are not limited to] snakes on a plane, beowulf, and even howard the duck, but nothing really met those expectations…until now.

from the diluted mind of j.j. abrams, the craziest mind since clive barker [but on a more stable path], the project once only known as 1-18-08, finally graced itself upon theaters. To kick off I have a bit of a disclaimer: I have never hoped that a movie be as excellent as I had anticipated this one to be. Thus, I went into the cinema similar to a pre-teen boy on his first day: butterflies in my stomach, perspiring palms, and a mind abuzz.

The film starts off, and maintains for a good quarter hour or so, the filming of robs bon voyage party. rob becomes a central character, along with his soon-to-be sister-in-law lily, a random friend marlena, his brother jason and his best friend hudson, better known as “hud.” basic inner conflict is set up when rob discovers his feelings for one-nighter beth are much more than standard. beth shows at the party with another man and leaves after an arguement.

all this prior screen time has been set up, character development; but HERE is where the real movie kicks in. as hud and jason consult rob, the apartment shakes and lights in new york shudder. the whole party heads to the roof top and witness the bright crimson explosion of downtown N.Y.

from the second that the camera shakes, the tense and immense buildup of the movie starts and doesn’t stop once. as the party-going crowd heads to the streets a torn and shattered head of lady liberty lands in the street. it is there the monsters first, albeit brief, appearance is made.

it’s difficult to describe the movie without giving anything up and ,being against spoilers, i refuse to do so. to nicely summarize [and quite generally] the movie is the american answer to the monster flick. japan has godzilla and we have the cuddly bi-polar ape king kong? not anymore. cloverfield is everything a monster movie should be. abrams has reverted to a movement now lost; actually creating suspense and tension rather than tossing around blood and gore or overdone and over-hyped torture scenes. no flesh scenes, no random sex, and completely void of texas chainsaws gory extravaganza.

every step of the film is from our perspective and the handicam portion of the film was far more convincing than past hits like the blair witch project. hud [clever huh?] serves as the ill-suited but much needed humor but more importantly he is our eyes. spare for choice moments, the movie FEELS real. the emotion, the pure utter excitement and nervousness of this monster, creates such an amazing reaction.

i have never felt such a combination of incredibly powerful emotions in a movie. most movies evoke laughter, happiness, anger at a particular character, sadness or even occasionally fear. i felt all of this and more in the dark beauty of cloverfield.

bottom line: this movie is not a let down. it exceeded high expectations and is a breath of fresh air in a cliche age of the horror genre. i hate lost but abrams hits a home run with this one.

the movie is comparable to: your entire town exploding in front of your eyes, a rollercoaster derailing, godzilla or king kong