Meh.

Rating: 3/10 (29 June 2011)

As a slyly self-referential autobiographical peek at J.J. Abrams's movie-obsessed teenage years, it's not so bad. Trouble is, it's also trying to be a sci-fi thriller, and it's just not going to thrill when it's so damn predictable. Think the shy kid and the popular blonde girl are going to be sweeties by the end? Well, so they are. Think the military dude who's a dead ringer for Kiefer Sutherland in "A Few Good Men" is going to turn out to be the heavy? Whaddaya know. Bad scary monster who just wants to go home going to go home? Yeah, and not a moment too soon.
There was some good stuff here. The kids were great, the aforementioned youthful-movie-obsession stuff was actually kind of cool, the protracted train-crash sequence was as good as protracted train crashes in movies get. But if you want to see the same basic story done with a bit of actual originality, rent "Iron Giant."