Before Cloverfield was officially released in the cinemas it had a lot of hype and it had therefore a lot to live up to.

The plot of the story is pretty simple. A twenty-something New Yorker (Rob) is leaving for Japan and his friends decide to throw a surprise leaving party for him. One of the people at this party is his friend Beth, whom he is also in love with. After a confrontation about her bringing another man to the party she leaves.

Suddenly there's a power cut, all of the party members rush outside onto the roof to see what is happening and it's there they see the head of the Statue of Liberty in the street. Inevitably there is talks of terrorist attacks and the usual screaming of panic.

The rest of the film is pretty predictable and a tiny bit boring. Rob, his brother and his girlfriend, Rob's best friend Hud (who is filming the action) and another random friend try to get away, but at the same time try and save Beth as she is in trouble. The story and events are all rather unbelievable, especially as they all stick together when they had the chance to save themselves. The rest of the film carries on with more cliches and events that have to be in a Hollywood blockbuster, raring to make millions.

The film is supposedly shot from a hand-held camera and with the constant flashbacks to a personal tape between Rob and Beth, it tugs at the heart strings and makes it a bit more personal. However, the fact that the film has emotion in it doesn't make it any better, it's still a slow film with predictable happenings and there isn't anything to it that makes it stand out, apart from the special effects which probably make the whole film and make it shocking and exciting.