Super 8

Went to see the Spielberg-wannabe JJ Abrams movie madness called Super 8 last night.

The best word I can use to describe it is cute.  It is cute.  With a dash of old skool monster movie thrown in.  All the child actors in the group are fantastic, nothing is better than a child actor that can really hit the nail on the head.  The main protagonist, Joe Lamb, played by Joel Courtney is fantastic.  He emotes every feeling with just a simple look.  I swear his cute little eyes were going to cry at every opportunity.  He reminded me of the actor Joey Cramer, who was the lead in Flight of the Navigator (another one of my fave films).  Delicate acting with maximum effect.

All the children were really great, and if the film had just been about them, I think it would have ended a lot differently.  But this is a Hollywood monster movie with serious consequences, so some adults needed to feature.  Kyle Chandler plays Joe's dad, the policeman thrust into the limelight when all the madness starts.  On a separate point, the man never ages.

Anyway, I think its a fairly solid film but there were serious faults with the story.  There should have been more focus on the monster and where it came from, why it was there, what other tests they did etc.  Instead, there was too much focus on stuff I wasn't too bothered by, the death of Joe's mother and their grief.  There were a couple of good scares on there but overall outweighed by the excessive amounts of schmaltz that it got a bit sickening.  

I remember watching the teaser trailer a year ago I think it was, and thinking wow.  This film is going to be great, Cloverfield but better.  Instead I got a family movie I could have taken my nieces and nephews to.

Like I said before, its cute.  but I won't be watching it again in a hurry.