I "saw" Cloverfield last night. I say "saw" because I couldn't take in more than 5 minutes at a time before I ended up feeling ill.
However, I still really liked it.
It has about all the "depth" of Lost (ie: None.), and doesn't make you think, so I'm a bit confused as to why people kept hyping those parts of it. Since, you know, they didn't exist.
However, I really liked the way it was done. It wasn't a conventional monster movie (for which I am extremely grateful, you can only see so many Godzilla clones before they become extremely boring and repetitive.) and the storytelling style was excellent.
The monster doesn't make much sense. But then, these creatures never do, so I won't hold that against it. In addition, it was the right move to not show you what it looked like until quite late, it's much scarier when you have no idea what it is or how it acts.
Quite a few people have complained about
Spoiler (Highlight to read):
the ending saying that it's essentially what the Sopranos pulled, which is true
However, unlike that show, it actually made sense for this movie. After all, this movie isn't supposed to be an account of how a monster wrecks NY and is eventually stopped and we all learn a lesson about the hubris of humanity. Instead, it's about the people who get caught in a natural disaster and what happens to them. In that light it makes perfect sense. Now, I won't call it artistic or revolutionary, it isn't either, but it isn't out of place or horrible, either.
I'd highly recommend it to people as a nice mixture of the monster/horror genre. Just don't expect to use your brain, or to get any answers at all.