After long months of waiting to finally see the mysterious monster that beheaded the Statue of Liberty in the most talked about trailer, Cloverfield lived up to its hype. The movie focuses on a group of friends and their experiences during a huge monster attack on Manhattan.

It is literally the best monster movie I’ve seen my whole life. Yes, it is better than Godzilla. Cloverfield runs only 84 minutes long and it stirs up more thrilling moments than most monster movies. Despite the rumors, they show the monster’s face. The monster isn’t shown that much, and it is not a giant whale with twenty fins. When the trailer first appeared, it left the audience’s mind going crazy over what this movie stores. It even appeared on the news with remarks on how many people were dying to know what kind of monster it was. No information was obtained before the movie came out, which was producer J.J. Abrams’ (Lost, Alias) idea.

“Cloverfield” was the codename for the movie and was never ideally meant to be its title. The name then became popular, so they decided to keep the title. Its original name was supposed to be “Greyshot,” which is the name of a Central Park location. Starring Michael Stahl-David, Cloverfield focuses on a group of friends who are on a mission to save a friend’s life when she calls for help during the monster attack.

The movie begins with a lot of friends throwing a surprise going away party for Rob (Stahl-David), who is moving to Japan because of a job promotion. Rob’s brother, Jason, and Jason’s girlfriend, Lily, threw the party. His close friend, Hudd, was chosen to do testimonials through a video camera. At mid-party, there is a sudden earthquake and blackout. Everyone in the party goes out into the street and the head of the Statue of Liberty flies onto the street. All of Manhattan tries to evacuate by crossing the Manhattan Bridge.

Rob, Jason, Lily, Hudd, and Lily’s friend, Marlena head to the front of the bridge. When they arrive, Rob gets a call from his friend, Beth, who needs help. As Rob talks to her, the middle of the bridge collapses, killing a lot of people. Rob and his friends decide to head to Beth’s house, which is located in the middle of Manhattan. It happens to where the monster is. Hudd carries the camera and videotapes their whole adventure.

Cloverfield is probably the best monster movie in years. Not only is it good because of the action, but mainly the suspense. The first person point of view was a great idea to in a movie. The audience felt as though they there with them on the adventure. Though you don’t see the monster very much, it creates such a mysterious atmosphere. But as mysterious as it is, the sudden appearance of the monster was disappointing. The acting wasn’t great either. Their reactions were not convincing.

Though the monster is still a mystery, I still loved the movie. It was like a brand new experience. If you’re looking for something worth watching, Cloverfield should be first on your list to watch. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars