Super BAD

Rating: 1/10 (22 October 2011)

I watched this expecting an interesting story in the mold of 'Explorers' (1985), which was what it seemed to an extent. My oh my, 'Super 8' was one of the biggest let-downs ever in the history of cinema.
This movie is genuine garbage from the very start until the very ending. So, what is wrong with this movie? Everything! It is too long and slow (let me yawn of boredom). There is virtually no plot. It seriously lacks any character development. The kids can't seem to captivate in any way and they are kids with very bad taste for filming movies about zombies (ugh!).
The movie is supposed to take place in 1979, yet it doesn't deliver the slightest bit of the atmosphere and feeling of that era. In other words, a laughable attempt of being something it clearly isn't.
Things out-of-line, things that make no sense at all, occur. A giant, disgusting alien-like monster viciously attacks and devours people. And we are supposed to sympathize with it? One of the kids even has a conversation with it and it calms down (come on!). Military men often show up (what the hell are they doing here??). There is too much noise and too many explosions.
The one saving grace is the scene when the massive derailment of the train occurs. That scene is absolutely impressive and amazing. I've never seen such a long, intense, fantastic and noisy derailment in a movie. But that's hardly a redeeming feature, given the movie's all-round awfulness.