Loved it
I have always thought that the idea behind the Blair Witch Project was genius - that of making a movie out of so-called 'found footage'. BWP, however, wasn't executed very well. Cloverfield got it right.
Beyond the gimmick of the hand-held camera, the thing I liked most about the movie was its lack of exposition. I prefer my movies to unfold without being given too many details. Unless those details are absolutely essential to the story and I have no other way of finding out about them without someone telling a story, I don't want to hear it. Abrams luckily did not include a scene where we heard something such as "authorities report that at 7:02PM a monster came crawling out of the East River..." and the like. The fact that you are given no information whatsoever added to the movie's tension. More movies should be like this. This is one of the reasons I love Lost in Translation so much, even though it is a completely different genre. You are dropped in Japan and given no explanation for any of the things you see.
When Charlotte is in Kyoto and sees a wedding, we don't have some other person walk up to her and start explaining the symbolism of the ceremony or their dress. Likewise when she's in the hotel and she wanders into a group setting flowers, there isn't an American tourist there to say, "She wants you to do so-and-so". The fact that neither her character nor the audience knows what she is supposed to do adds to the connection between the two. It means more because we are sharing in Charlotte's awkwardness and possible embarrassment.It is often times easier for me to enjoy a film by only seeing a slice of the characters' lives, whether it be several hours during a monster attack or several days in the middle of Japan.
