we are the earth intruders/ we are the sharp shooters.

There isn't really much to say about Cloverfield.  Its plot is weak, some of its characters incredibly annoying, and it will not change your life.  It may make you nauseated from the shaking camera (it's basically The Blair Witch Project amplified a billion times).  But, it was the most fun I'd had at in a movie in years.  Yes, that includes Lord of the Rings.  I didn't get to see Jurassic Park in a theater.  I was very young when I saw The Lost World twice.  If I saw Independence Day in a theater I don't remember it.  When I was a bit older I convinced my mother to take me to Godzilla.  She agreed because I think she associated it with Japan.  Well, it was about the worst disappointment of my life.  The monster was not frightening, the baby-monsters (why are there always baby monsters?) blatant raptor rip-offs, the action completely unrealistic... I like my monster movies (see: Signs, see: Alien) on the ground, exciting, convincing, grotty, and unkind.  I don't care what the president is doing, I don't care that the news anchors are sad.  Meetings of higher-ups or knowledgeables discussing how to destroy the monster does not a thrill ride make.  Because action movies are a lot like roller coasters.  They're good for the ride and that's about it, so the ride better be good.

Cloverfield was like God getting back to me about my complaint over Godzilla and saying, ok, here you go.  Have fun. 

And now I immediately want to leave Manhattan.