Our Thoughts on Super 8

Photo borrowed from here

After a few months of anticipation we finally saw Super 8 which tells the story of a group of young friends who, while shooting a movie, witness an immense train wreck and begin to explore the results and effect the wreck has on their small town. It was written and directed by J.J. Abrams of Felicity, Alias and Lost fame so the bar was set high on this one. Here are our thoughts.

Justin's Take: I know going into this review that Mallory didn't like this movie.  I went into it without too many expectations (which is odd since I've seen every episode of both Alias and Lost).  I really rather enjoyed this movie, I think because it was pretty much a popcorn flick.  I enjoyed that it had the Amblin Entertainment logo at the beginning, it reminded me of Goonies and ET and just about every movie of the early 80's.  I think my sister and her family will enjoy it.  I like that it was about 12 year old boys having an adventure out of scope for their surroundings.  It looks like old Spielberg films and I like that about it.  It's not an earth shattering film, and to go into it expecting that would only lead to disappointment.  I got nervous about that once every person I knew kept talking about how great the film was.  You should check it out if you want to watch an adventure.


Mallory's Take: I did not care for the movie. It insists upon itself (Family Guy, anyone?). In all seriousness, I was very disappointed and it wasn't because of high expectations. If anything, I had moderate expectations. Unlike many, I'm not under the impression that all that J.J. Abrams touches turns to gold. I found it hard to "suspend disbelief" while watching this one-- the entire time it felt like I was watching a movie. The score was cheesy and in your face and the relationships between the parents and their children were unbelievable. However that part was not due to bad acting, but to the lack of depth in the story. In fact, I left the theater feeling as though I'd seen that very same movie a thousand times already. It felt a little too Stand By Me for my taste. Honestly, if they'd cleaned up the language a bit it would have made a fine Disney Channel Original movie.

I realize this is all pretty harsh, but I had heard such great things about Super 8. I kept waiting for a big payoff that never came. But don't listen to me, I'm no Ebert. My favorite movie is Gidget Goes Hawaiian...

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