Rob's a guy going away to Japan for a job. Godzilla catches wind of this, and decides to swing by New York City, personally welcome Rob (Michael Stahl-David) to his adopted country, and pick up a DKNY tee. While there, he decides to run amok through the city, killing thousands of Manhattenites and picking off most of Rob's friends while he (Rob) tries to save his cheating girlfriend (Odette Yustman) from certain monster death. Well, he was sick of trashing Tokyo.
The Army, Navy and Marines, meanwhile, attempt to mildly stall the creature's progress in a stunning display of how truly ineffective our weaponry is against ginormous, 300 foot tall alien lizards. Come on! What the hell have they been spending $500 billion a year on, for christsake??
Movie Value: $1.00Chock-full of spectacular special effects -- you try to maintain the shaky-hand-cam look while 15 CGI effects play out in the background! -- and a compellingly "real" narrative (seen through the lens of this bozo's social life), Cloverfield is worth seeing, although your first view will be the best.