A film with great potential falls well short

Rating: 6/10 (11 June 2011)

I have just gotten home from a trip to the theatre. Me and a few friends decided on Super 8. What appealed to me most about this film is that it was very mysterious, and I myself had only seen 1 trailer on it. I prefer to go into a movie knowing nothing about it, so I have no expectations.
For about 100 minutes, I thought the film was fantastic. The old-school style of filming really hooked me in. The children in this movie, I must say, were fantastic actors for their age and the genre. Charles, the director of the children's zombie movie, seemed to satirize a bossy director who always wanted things differently. The quiet boy Joe, with a crush, and their relationship was great, as well as the rest of the young actors relationships (until the end, I'll get to that).
I also enjoyed that there was a parallel storyline going on, so the viewer could see the story from an adults and child's point of view. It kept me guessing throughout the film. The suspense, the build up, was mostly perfect, keeping my friends and I on the edge of our seats. That was a spoiler-less summation of the first 100 minutes.
I only wanted to write this review based on what happened after this 100 minutes.
Now, after this 100 minute mark, the movie was concluding. Quickly. VERY quickly. To me, and many other people, it seemed as though JJ Abrams had to sum up the movie as quickly as he could, which was where the 'actual' train wreck began.
So after this 100 minute mark, young Joe is having a conversation with another character. After this short conversation, the 2nd character leaves, and Joe and 2 of his friends do as well, into town. They go completely unnoticed by anyone else, which I thought was very odd. As they, along with everyone around them, watch the scene take place, the movie attempts to sum itself up. To avoid spoilers, I will have to leave it at that.
Basically the movie was going in a direction with a lot of build up, as most movies do, and then the build up died. The climax was forgotten, and the entire movie fell apart. Had the filmmakers decided to lengthen the film and try to gradually end it, I would not be so upset. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Also, the ending had nothing to do with the rest of the film, and instead the solution came from almost out of the blue.
All-in-all, the film 'Super 8' had the potential to be fantastic. It was humorous, suspenseful, and mysterious. But when it came down to the final minutes, the filmmakers didn't deliver. All of the conflicts in the film were summed up so quickly, the build up seemed pointless entirely. You impressed me, Mr. Abrams, and yet my impression quickly faded away with your terrible ending I give this film a 6 out of 10. Had the final 12 minutes been different, I believe it could have been worthy of a spot in the top 250.
Thanks for reading everyone.