Super 8 (2011)

Rating: 6/10 (13 December 2011)

J.J. Abrams makes an old skool Spielberg movie. With lens flares. Spielberg did it all bigger and better. Considering all the secrecy around the trailers, I was surprised to see how generic this was. here were no twists or turns, and the monster was very familiar. Build up is essential to great tension, so I don't know why this film lacked any suspense. Abrams humorously keeps his monster in the dark in Austin Powers nudity mode. The kids are a gang of usual stereotypes, fat kid, dumb kid, weird kid etc. We've got your usual family tragedy to try and add some gravitas. Every time a scene happened it wasn't until it had finished that I realised it was meant to have suspense. Missing dogs posters, rumbling boxes, why was all this so boring? When it kicks off, it's entertaining enough, but it was just a constant homage to the 70s/80s. Watch Close Encounters, Goonies, and E.T. for an incredible triple bill instead of this mediocre tribute.