Most Unoriginal Movie EVER!

Rating: 3/10 (21 June 2011)

Wow, what a waste of time. People have been saying that this movie is JJ Abrams "first" movie, meaning that his other two films (MI3 and Star Trek) were franchises so he was emboldened to already established characters and tone. Well, Super 8 makes his other two movies seem like the most original things he's ever done.
This film is nothing more than a mash-up of the most popular Spielberg/Amblin films including ET, Close Encounters, Goonies, and Poltergeist. It's as if JJ called Steven and said "Hey, do you mind if I make one movie that summarizes all your other films?" Spielbergs response: "Well, since I now put my name on Michael Bay movies, why the hell not?" I could get past all the unoriginal storytelling, direction, cinematography, writing, plot, etc. if the movie actually did a good job of eliciting emotion, scares, and wonderment but Super 8 falls way short. Abrams tries in every way to emulate Spielberg (right down to the way overused CGI lens flares) but actually ends up showing how inferior he is as a story teller. Spielberg's gift to the world was his innate ability to make the fantastical believable (A kid really befriended ET, Jaws really jumped on to the Orca, aliens really landed at Devil's Tower). However, in Super 8, nothing feels real or believable including plot points, logistics, and character.
Some examples: how can a small pickup truck derail a high speed freight train? How can the driver of that truck still remain alive? Why would 8MM raw footage of an alien be edited together with a well recorded voice over? Why, when the train first approaches, does the kid yell "production value" but he never repositions the actors to show the train in the background? Why are the aliens cubes in trucks near the water tower when the Air Force knows the alien needs them for his space ship? When they have the big town meeting, where is the press and national news? When the kids are running through town, why is the Air Force blowing up everything in sight? And when the Air Force speeds to the train wreck they see a car drive away, but instead of chasing the car they just decide to check the tire tracks and match them (which never pans out).
I was excited for this movie more than any other this summer. I was hoping for JJ to have an original, exciting spin on movies I loved as a kid. But unfortunately, it was nothing more than a haphazard cut and paste job that should be an embarrassment to all involved.