An awful kids film full of awful kids !

Rating: 1/10 (27 November 2011)

I am of an age now, when watching a movie stuffed with teenagers is sickeningly awful. Where are the great sci-fi films that should be in production ? I mean come on, this is a collaboration between JJ Abrams and Steven Spielberg for crying out loud. If they can't make a good sci-fi movie , who can ?
It would have been better to see the dynamic of an older group of friends in the town than kids. Because it's kids it introduces serious problems with the story. They are all nearly killed very traumatically at the very beginning (final destination style) and yet all agree to go home and tell no one in fear of getting into trouble. I'm annoyed with the film from this very premise as none of them seem bothered by this event. Then whilst all these horrible things are happening and people are going missing (including one of their dads), they carry on making their film each day as if it was business as usual, what kind of a crazy town is this where kids recover from serious trauma so easily. Then there's the romantic development between the main character and his love interest, he's about 12 and she's old enough to drive (though doesn't have her license yet), its a very unlikely and awkward romance. And the two of them are overly emotional and poignant when it doesn't make sense to be or that you would expect kids of this age to be, it seems out of place. True heroism in the face of adversity, fine with pirate ships and cute bicycle basket aliens, not so believable when its a monster akin to Cloverfield, they would be petrified, they are too young to take such roles in the story. The main kid and his dad, poor effort to build audience empathy for their relationship. I felt more empathy for the Dad of the vomiting child in The Sixth Sense, (and he only had a couple of scenes in his film to manage that), than i did for the father in this film even after the whole movie. And why the 80's, I didn't even know it was the 80's in the film to begin with, I don't know who did set design and costume, but even when the kid in the petrol shop is listening to Blondie, i genuinely though he just trying to be pastiche. It was only when the sheriff makes the ubiquitous comment 'you kids these days and your modern Walkmans, what ever next', that i realised that it was set in the 80's. It doesn't need to be realistic, its a film, but it does need to be convincing and make sense and if people are to gain any connection with the characters, they have to at least act in some way proportionately to the events that have happened. Its obvious, predictable (long quiet pause...monster jumps out...long quiet pause....monster jumps out....long quiet pause....you guessed it, monster jumps out), melodramatic and offers nothing new, in fact a little insulting to an adult audience. And if I have to watch another film where characters should be running for their lives and instead take time out and practically stop the film to fit in a romantic or sentimental moment I'm gonna start throwing things at the screen. Monsters don't wait for people to finish their lines, Monsters eat people who stop for a chat. Super 8? super c**p indeed.