I went to see Cloverfield the other day. I'd been psyched about the movie for a while, and did what best I could to dodge spoilers from our American friends, who got to see it as early as January 18th. No such luck for us Swedes; the premiere was February 8th for us. Anyway, I went to see it in the theater with a few friends of mine. I had pretty high expectations on the movie, and it satisfied each and every one. Cloverfield is awesome.

For those of you who haven't heard about the movie and are too lazy to click the IMDB link above, Cloverfield is a slightly untraditional monster movie produced by J. J. Abrams, the creator/director of Lost and Alias. The entire movie is shown from the perspective of a small group of New Yorkers who are throwing a farewell party for a friend going to work in Japan when the city is suddenly attacked by a mysterious, gigantic creature. The entire movie is shown from the perspective of a hand-held camera as they struggle to make sense of the nightmare they have found themselves in and to make it out of the city alive.

Let me tell you, folks, if you haven't seen this movie yet, you should. Make sure you go see it in the theater, though; don't get it on DVD or download it or anything. To get the full experience out of Cloverfield, you need a sound system that can truly deliver on the thundering, earth-shaking bass this movie is so full of.

It seems to me that Cloverfield sort of follows along the same tradition as one of my favorite TV shows, Heroes. That show is about a group of ordinary people who find that they have strange, poorly understood superpowers, but unlike most superhero shows, Heroes is about the people and their struggle to understand themselves and the new world they have been thrust into. The same can be said about Cloverfield. Although there is a great deal of monster fetishism involved, and I'm delighted that the movie delivers spectacularly on the special effects, Cloverfield is at heart about the people. Ordinary people, thrust into a living nightmare as their world is turned upside-down and all the things that give them comfort and security are torn down by something merciless, dauntless and much larger than life.

I think it's great. It's a refreshing change from the shallow, action-oriented movies we tend to have shoved down our throats otherwise. Hell, even when Cloverfield does go thick on the action, it does so with style and adrenaline-pumping intimacy instead of merely showing the goings-on at a distance, detached from the disembodied viewer. You really begin to sympathize with reluctant cameraman Hud and his friends in a way you never would when observing the scene from a distance.

So, if you got some spare cash lying around and are looking for a great way to spend an hour and a half, go see Cloverfield. In fact, you should take the time to go see it, because Cloverfield is an awesome movie, and you'll love it. It premiered in Sweden last Friday and should still be showing in all major theaters across the country.