I was expecting so much more...

Rating: 6/10 (19 June 2011)

I don't make movies or review them. I am simply someone who loves going to the movies and have seen more than I can count. I was waiting for Super 8 for about 6 months. I saw the early trailers, was involved in the viral campaigns. I was amped to go and experience another great JJ Abrams film.
Like many reviewers I started on a high then at about half way my opinion of the movie had gone down a lot.
I watch a lot of movies and like to think I know a good movie when I see one. For me it's simple. Was it interesting? Was it entertaining? Was it original? This is what makes a great movie to me. Super 8 was not a great movie.
The best way to describe Super 8 is take ET and put it in a blender with Cloverfield. But it just doesn't feel like it blended how it should have.
The are too main stories...little kids having adventures, growing up and falling in love. Other the other side a monster attacks the city cloverfield style. The kid parts are filmed in a very ET 80's cinemas style. The alien parts are modern with CGI and at times it honestly doesn't feel like you are watching the same film.
Don't even get me started on inconsistencies of this movie... like a man driving into a speeding train derailing it and SURVIVING? lol... seriously?
Super 8 feels very much like a fan made dedication to Spielberg but it just didn't quite work.
I will say the kids were excellent actors and I would have been more entertained just watching a movie about them with no alien. Elle Fanning out acted every one, even the adult cast. She proved to be an amazing young actress portraying a maturity far beyond her age. But with the other characters I had no real emotional attachment to them. I didn't feel sorry for the alien, was I supposed to?
Like I said I am simply a movie buff and to me this was not anything special. I'm surprised by all these 10/10 reviews, because this movie had nothing new that you haven't seen in 50 other films. I think it would have made 2 great separate films, where they could have taken their time to build the story. Combined though I would say wait for DVD.