Apocolypse Wow: Review for "Cloverfield"

Somewhat of a homage to monster movies like King Kong, Godzilla, Them!, etc., Cloverfield brings back the old glory days for the monster film to the twenty-first century. The story is relatively simple, and a little boring and cliche: Some of Rob's friends have held a going away party for him. He's about to go off to Japan on a job. During this party, there is an "earthquake". But when they look outside, Lady Liberty's head comes flying down the street. When they look closely, it's a giant monster, with little Mini-Monsters on its back, biting people. The army tries (unsuccessfully) to kill this monster. It seems that a giant monster, which resembles a scorpion, spider, and a human, knocking over buildings in NYC. He even takes out Lady Liberty! That scene, in which the Statue of Liberty's head rolls down the alley brings chills to my bones, since this film is risky, dealing with a post 9/11 era. The poster alone, with Lady missing her head, is something that could have the tag line: "Could Lady Liberty be next?" if it were a political thriller. The amateur footage, I must admit, made me doubtful that this was a good movie when I saw the trailer. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone be filming? I would run the heck away!". But further evidence from the film gives good reason to the constant filming and documenting. (Like I'm gonna spoil the ending!) The young ens are part of the typical formula, filled with melodramatic and mediocre performances like any other teen flick. But overall, it's a great film.
Grade: B+