Cloverfield is great! Go see it! It has Billy Brown (Voice Actor)!

I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about the movie. Other reviews will do that better.
I really enjoyed it. I thought it was brutal and harsh. The shakey-cam was a bit upsetting (I get crazy sea-sick), and there are a couple CG-y moments, but on the whole I was engaged the whole time. I was about half way through the credits before I let the muscles in back unclench.

I think the greatest strength of the film is it's brevity. They don't explain anything more than what the main characters get to see, and it leaves a lot of the tension up to you to create. At no time did this feel lazy or like a cop out. Walking out of the theater I felt that all of the choices of what to see or not, were very strategic.

The creature design was really cool. It wasn't the huge lumbering sprawling beast of concept art, and I like that the beast seemed massive, yet maneuverable.

I thought the story was set up well, getting us in and out with a minimum of effort, and I thought the ending was really sweet. Much in the same way that Spielberg's War of the Worlds was an intense film (but totally fumbles the end), Cloverfield doesn't ever give you a chance to rest, and I think the payoff at the end is great.


Ok, all the movie stuff aside, I was STOKED to see Billy Brown as Staff Sgt. Pryce. Billy is a great VO actor, having been in a ton of games (C&C3, KOTOR2, Path of Neo), has an awesome "trailer voice", and is currently the voice of the Marines. That last being so appropriate to see him as a soldier in this film. His part in the film wasn't huge, but he easily has the largest (and most important scene) with the main characters. I was really impressed with his performance as well. The setting is way over the top, and Billy plays his role very real and grounded. Excellent job Mr. Brown!