Folks are asking for my take on the movie, so here we go. It will be brief and hopefully spoiler-free. If you are worried about spoilers, as I have been for months, just go see it and experience it before reading more.
I went early last night not knowing how many folks would be there. I went alone because my best friend, Joe Thorn, didn't care to watch it with me. I found a way to stay strong and go anyway. By the time they opened the theater and let us in, the theater filled up to about half. When the previews began it was almost completely full. I might have been the oldest guy there. Seriously. I didn't see anyone who looked older than me or even my age.
The Star Trek teaser was fun. It's the originial Enterprise under construction with a brief Leonard Nemoy voice-over. Looking forward to this one at the end of the year.
After watching Cloverfield I have to admit that the teasers and trailers gave me a very good taste for what the movie experience would be like. It's all hand-held personal video documenting a few good friends experiencing the attack of some sort of monster on Manhattan. They are working to escape, save friends, and so on. There are moments of both terror and humor, but they also did a good job of keeping the atmosphere real.
I thought the filming and the CGI work was outstanding. I'm no expert, but I bought it and was able to stay focused on story. They also did a fine job of teasing you with a progressive revelation of what the monster looked like. I was afraid they wouldn't show enough or satisfy my desire to see what it looked like. But I was also afraid they would focus so much on seeing the monster that it would hurt the movie. I thought it was pretty well balanced.
The also do a very good job of not saying too much about the monster. They work hard to avoid giving monster origins and such. Leaving us in the dark on that stuff was a good move.
I could say a lot more, but since I've already crossed the line of brevity I'll just add one last word. Two days before seeing Cloverfield I checked Rotten Tomatoes and found it was getting mixed reviews. That was disappointing since I already own the T-shirt. But after seeing the movie I was very, very satisfied. I've also noticed the reviews are getting much better. I give it a big thumbs-up and encourage you to see it! Seriously. Go now.
