A film that tries really hard to be great

Rating: 6/10 (18 October 2011)

I am not really a fan of big budget, over the top kids movies, but this one promised to be a bit more than that, a bit more intelligent too. At times it almost gets there, building the mystery as the plot advances, high quality special effects, and the performances from these kids also lent much credibility to make this a great film.
Then as soon as you think this is going to be a good film, some ridiculous scene is inserted and brings it crashing down to a mediocre level. The clichéd, super overbearing bad father, the plain stupid military fudging along like no one else exists, even dumber townsfolk moaning about microwaves disappearing, and then ridiculous and unexplained powers of the alien visitor.
Overall entertaining, but definitely been done before, especially the weak ending. This film promised much, but ultimately failed to reach the goal not only because of the rehashed plot, but also for being a little insulting to the intelligence (even if you are a kid)