Very enjoyable.

Rating: 9/10 (19 March 2012)

There was a lot of anticipation for this film following the success of J.J. Abrams previous monster movie Cloverfield (2008). I really enjoyed Cloverfield and was looking forward to this and fortunately it didn't disappoint.
The film is set in 1979 and starts out by introducing a group of kids making a zombie movie. Late at night they go to a train station to film some scenes in time with when a train passes. A few seconds later there is one of the best train crashes ever put to film. A creature escapes and the children realise that there is a cover up going on.
Using a cast of young unknown actors works really well for this film. It gives the film a feel similar to Goonies (1985) and Stand By Me (1986). The young actors are great in this, come to think about it everyone is great in this. It is hard to find a stand out performance. I was torn between Elle Fanning as Alice Dainhard and Joel Courtney as Joen Lamb. I decided to go with Joel Courtney as it is his first acting role and acts like a veteran.
The effects in this are as you would expect, incredible. It is a CGI heavy film but you hardly notice as the effects blend seamlessly with real life.
This has a brilliant cast, amazing effects and a good story. But for some reason I felt something was missing. I feel the story was what let it down. As I said it is a good story but not a great one. It gets a little predictable and cliché. When the film ended I wanted more, not for the film to keep going but more story. There are so many small stories in this that it seems cramped. This is a Sci-Fi/Thriller but there was a lot of drama added into the film and for me it felt too much. I would have loved to see a film with the young actors just focusing on them. They have a great story without the monster and I found myself more interested in their lives and then the monster would arrive on screen and change the pace of the film. During these parts there was nothing that you haven't seen before in monster movies.
This is a good film and it is very enjoyable to watch. Keep watching the end credits as you get to see the kids zombie movie.