A realistic depiction of what it would be like if a giant monster really did attack Manhattan. The photography is jarring, but not as jarring as the realism. If the film reinvents anything other than the publics acceptance of a kind of YouTube crudery as viable entertainment, I missed it. Cloverfield dvd Its a gimmick, good for one shot. But if Abrams tires this again, he should be shot. Blair Witch meets Godzilla in this hugely enjoyable shake-fest. Basically, it is a gimmick movie in which the premise is pretty much the entire show. That said, it is perhaps the most sensationally effective gimmick movie to come around since The Blair Witch Project Now that the fanboy hype has cleared, we can see Cloverfield for what it is: borrowed inspiration, trite screenwriting and amateurish acting all in the service of a ballsy idea.