Super 8

Rating: 7/10 (3 February 2014)

Set in the 70's. A group of kids are making a Super 8 movie for a film competition and while doing so they witness a train wreck, from which an alien creature escapes and begins to wreak havoc on the small town.
Very much a modern-day Goonies meets E.T. film, with elements of Cloverfield in respect of the alien creature.
I enjoyed the first hour or so, but the alien elements didn't engage me and I don't think they were even developed very well, considering this is the main plot of the film. In fact, the more the alien featured in it, with his whole psychic connection, desire to go home, then disappearing off in a gigantic spaceship, the less I liked it. Because of this, it did sometimes feel rushed and a bit like lazy writing.
The attempt to make an 80's-style kids film is not as good as the actual films from the 80's that is seems to be based on.