No Wonder and No Charm

Rating: 3/10 (23 June 2011)

Overall has the feel of the run-of-the-mill disaster movie with a mindless story and corny special effects. The makers failed to recreate the intended retro/sci-fi speilbergesque feel.
The main reason was the awful story created that had tremendous holes and things that don't make sense even for something that isn't realistic. It didn't stick to anything as the movies it was trying to recreate did. The old Spielberg movies stuck to a unique premise with a wondrous charm and fun sense of adventure. Premises such as interesting children's adventure saga, a huge Shark, dinosaurs or some mysterious aliens is what made you want to go the movies. These premises were unique at the time, fun and had tons of heart. Super 8 on the other hand tried to throw everything in there, all the Spielberg premises ultimately creating nothing. It was just a special effects movie centered around a nonsensical story with a few of Spielberg's old techniques thrown in and none of his heart.
Frequently there were those annoying (and in this case gratuitous) "jolting awake" moments occurring from a span of quietness followed by something drastic happening that created a sudden loud bang.
The children trying to make a movie were mildly cute but it lacked intrigued because that aspect didn't get into enough depth since it had to go into the more boring, corny over the top special effect areas. The ending got absolutely ridiculous even for something that is fantasy/sci-fi.