BOTTOM LINE: It's the Blair-Witch version of Godzilla - ridiculous in many parts but very cool and unlike 'Blair Witch', this film actually pays off on its premise.

THE GOOD: Hollywood finally gets to do their own 'Blair Witch' and surprisingly, 'Cloverfield' is superior to the film it draws so heavily from, at least in style. 'Blair Witch' didn't really have a pay-off (ie the threat was always suggested, never revealed). 'Cloverfield' doesn't show the monsters much but at the right moments, it shows the monsters in dramatic style. The main monster itself is ridiculous but because the camera work is so shaky you don't really notice and is actually quite nasty and scary in some moments. The story is by and large irrelevant - this film is all about mayhem and destruction and the film doesn't disappoint. After getting an introduction to the characters, the first attack scene comes out of nowhere and is one of the coolest you're likely to see, with the head of the Statue of Liberty smashing through buildings before rolling down the street and coming to a stop at the base of the apartment building the characters inhabit. At this point, you hardly see the monster at all.

This is especially borne out in the next attack sequence where in a flash of a second, the monster's tail comes crashing down on the Brooklyn Bridge, killing lots of people and making a terrifying sequence as people scramble to safety. The filmmakers very cleverly defy conventions by keeping you guessing about who will survive. Characters are built up to seem important but then end up as monster-fodder. Some that don't appear important at all become the central characters. But the smartest move of all was to explain nothing about the monster, how it attacks or why it seems to have nasty offspring that roll off its back. One very creepy scene revolves around one of the girls who was bitten by one of the smaller monsters (in another separate, clever scene in a dark subway), she starts to become dizzy and begins bleeding through her eyes. The army soldiers grab her and take her away from everyone else where she proceeds to spontaneously combust, with blood exploding in every direction. It's not over the top in execution but it is surprising and nasty. I think what I enjoyed the most is that the monster was used in just the right way and provided some genuinely thrilling sequences. 'Cloverfield' is a lot of fun.

THE BAD: This film is a gimmick. Part of the gimmick is that this cleverly edited film 'appears' to be random footage shot of the events that occur. That's not the bad part - the problem lies in seeing really shaky camera footage on a giant screen. If you get motion sickness or migraines easily, don't watch this film in the cinema. Also, I'd love to have the brand of camera that was used to get the 'footage'. It gets bashed around so much, and at one point, ends up in the monster's mouth before falling out and magically landing on the ground next to the dead victim, perfectly framing his dead face... and it still works! One hell of a camera. The end credits have some bizarrely inappropriate music. The only other problem is that the opening scenes which establish the characters went on for far too long. There's only one reason you're watching a film like this and that's not to see the melodramas of the main characters.