Steven Spielberg has become a Cliché of himself!

Rating: 2/10 (6 July 2011)

Did you see ET? If you did, well, wait for the opportunity to rent this movie, or download it online for less. Why? Well, if you are hoping to watch an original movie, this isn't it. It is a rehash of the ET story line, only with a bigger budget.
I expected better from Spielberg but he is rich and fat now, and he can simply rehash a story line and make money rather than write something original. Good for him.
Super 8 is a nice action movie, a great way to waste time, to be mildly entertained. If you are happy to blow money to see junk in a theater, go for it. Not me. I expect more for the money & this is just a "category: rental", to me.
Spoiler Warning!
Characters in this movie are BORING! Two can act. The rest...
The story is no different than ET. A big, bad ass alien wants to go home but the bad humans are keeping him here against his will. The bad guys are from the Air Force this time around. One rogue former scientist wants the alien to go home. He was touched by him (well, picked up and shaken, then tossed) and now he "understands" the alien.
YAWN.
The kids, a sad parody of the Spielberg childhood, are.... yes... .moviemakers! Just like the big boy now. So, under the premise of sneaking out in the middle of the night to "film", they catch a train wreck and are warned to stay away or death will come to all of them and their families. You have to get this warning or there is zero suspense, as this scene is suppose to make the movie "scary" as the "plot" develops. It is suppose to make you think the Air Force is bad! And, it is suppose to make you wonder what is so special about this train, that it had to be stopped.
YAWN.
After a spectacular crash, the big bad alien breaks out of the railway car and starts to destroy the town, one microwave and car engine at a time. What does he do with this stuff? Who knows. It all disappears from the town and the town folk are "angry"! Where are the micro waves and what happened to all the engines and radiators from the used cars in the lot? The Town folk think it's the RUSSIANS! FAIL!
YAWN.
I forgot to mention, to try and tug at your heart, the hero loses his mom in an industrial accident and falls in love with the daughter of the guy who should have died in the plant but he was drunk, stayed home and she took his shift and got crushed by an "I" beam that fell on her. Pass the Kleenex box, please. FAIL.
YAWN.
Are you bored yet!? I am and I am not even finished the review yet.
The Air Force guys are really, really bad guys. They round up the towns people, throw the deputy in the slammer to keep him from interfering with their recapture efforts etc etc. But, the kids manage to ESCAPE the round up, find the scientists old films, unravel the truth, and get caught again, by the Air Force guys! Not only do the kids escape this high security compound, a drug addict, film store sales guy drives them out of the compound. No one notices. I guess the Air Force must have gone to the Luke Skywalker Ranch for training on stuff like: shooting and security, just like the Empire Storm Troopers. They did shoot just as bad in the shooting scenes when they couldn't hit the broad side of an alien but tore up the town pretty good, sound familiar?
YAWN.
On the way back, the Alien has his moment with the bus, kills the Air Force guys transporting the kids, but... yes.... the kids ESCAPE. Very unexpected.
YAWN.
The hero finds the underground tunnel the alien is in, finds the girl he is in love with that got taken by the Alien earlier, so he could eat her later when he gets hungry, but the hero rescues her.
YAWN.
And... The alien ESCAPES, goes home, Fade to Black, roll credit. DON'T LEAVE YOUR SEAT EARLY!!!!!
You get to see the finished film the kids made. It is better than the movie!
YAWN.
Badda bing. $60 lighter in the wallet. FAIL!
The train wreck scene was like something out of the Spielberg War of the Worlds. It simply never ended. All because the MASSIVE train hits a small pickup! The scientist IN the pickup is NOT DEAD! NO SIR! He warns the kids to RUN! The pickup isn't even obliterated, and it was a head on collision.
Triple YAWN.
Read the gushy reviews from all the mindless people who just love everything they see and fail to turn a critical eye to anything. The movie industry loves them! They allow all the rich producers and executives to enjoy wonderful, plush lifestyles with mansions, Oscars and Bentleys.
Trust me, you will watch this movie and feel like it was a waste of time after it is over. And, that is because it is. Rent it later if you have to. Spielberg will still make money from you on the rental, and he will like that too.
If this was a romance novel, it would be a Harlequin Romance. A formula novel they crank out by the dozens every week, the names change, the locations change, the covers change, but the story is the same.
Overall, FAILS on many levels.
Welcome to Super 8, the ET rehash.