Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot Productions present a PG-13 rated, 90 minute action thriller directed by Matt Reeves and starring Lizzy Caplan (Marlena Diamond), Jessica Lucas (Lily Ford), T.J. Miller (Hud), Michael Stahl-David (Rob Hawkins), Mike Vogel (Jason Hawkins), Odette Yustman (Beth McIntyre) and a huge cast of extras surrounded by some phenomenal special effects.
The film follows the story behind six friends and there coming together at a surprise party for Rob, soon to take on a new job as Vice President for a company in Japan. All of his close and somewhat distant friends are there to help him celebrate as he gets ready to leave Manhattan for a new venture. His brother Jason and his girlfriend, Lily, a casual acquaintance, Marlena, his major love interest, Beth, who happens to be at the party with another guy, Travis, and the man behind the camcorder, Hud. Even though the story focuses on six young adults, the real point of interest is seen through the lens of the camcorder. But something has found them and the terror that soon encompasses their lives will never be forgotten.
On May 22 at approximately 6:48 P.M. as the party banter unfolds, the earth moves and from this point on all of life as these friends once knew it is gone. As they flee to the roof to get a view of Manhattan and the reason behind the quake they experience yet another major catastrophe which leads them fleeing for the streets. "What was that"? A question heard by many as they fend for their lives on the streets of New York City. Many moments in this film brought back memories of 9/11 and the footage that was captured on all the news channels. Even in a time of crisis surrounded by the unknown, people still found it in their being to lute the cities local businesses. A point made that stupidity, greed and the lack of concern for humanity will forever run though our society like the blood through our veins.
This film is shot entirely through the vision of a camcorder somewhat like the film, "Blair Witch", but truly a million times better! Be prepared to get shaken up a bit from watching all the dramatic events that unfold while Hud follows the quest towards survival for he and his friends. He knows that people will want to know and feels that as long as he can document the attack than the world will understand. Personally, I had high expectations for this film and feared that this type of photography would ruin the experience for the movie audience. Albeit, I was pleasantly surprised that in my opinion it made the film a bit more real and dramatic creating a sense of suspense and believability to the story and the characters. Overall, the special effects were superb and some of the best equal to many other blockbuster films. The acting was well executed but don't look for any of the leads at the next Academy Awards any time soon. The directing was unlike many other films, truly capturing a sense of reality. The writing, laced with some levity, caused some laughs but possibly could have been forgotten for such an intense film. Even though there were one or two scenes that could have been left on the editing floor, the film still hit its point in the fear category.
The monster, whether created by man, spawned from the sea or an arrival from another galaxy was unlike any others along with its numerous offspring that truly packed an explosive bite. As the story unfolds and the friends continue to move forward trying to help one another as best they can under the circumstances, they discover that they are no longer safe anywhere. They feel that soon they will die where they stand, in the streets or in the tunnels. Either way for the remaining friends their options are limited because whatever this thing is, it is winning. In the month of April, Beth and Rob had a good day but on May 23rd at 6:42 A.M. all good things must come to an end leaving behind mysteries and assumptions for a possible future.
I am trying not to give too much away here other than the fact that the story is truly told through the lens of a camcorder. For some people in the audience this vision may cause a bit of anxiety somewhat like that in a small plane during a bad rain storm. Overall, even though I was not feeling well while screening this film, I must say I still loved it and if it were bad for the eyes I would have been the first to exit for the restroom. I thought the acting was sufficient by a group of somewhat unknowns but the real power that will drive this film to a box-office success is the special effects and the dramatics behind the plot. Scenes on a Manhattan bridge, buildings being destroyed, people, carriage horses and rats running for their lives, friends losing friends to these unknown monsters, helicopter crashes that make you feel like your one of the passengers, are all made more realistic in my opinion due to the fact of the manner in which this movie was filmed. There is so much intensity going on during this roller coaster adventure that many may want to actually experience it more than once, that is if you can tolerate the bumpy but spectacular ride. It could go either way for the movie audience but for a action, sci-fi, thriller, monster movie fan like myself, I could definitely sit through this one again and look forward to adding it to my DVD collection.
Reporting for Talkin' Pets, I'm Jon Patch.