J.J. Abrams' Super 8 - Part 2

[Solidus]

I saw it twice in one night, (not really by choice) but I did reflect on it more.

Pros: Great acting, those kids were natural and all just worked well together. The dialogue in the script was very natural as well, I truly enjoyed that, when people say "kids should not be in films" this is another among others that show that they can. Train wreck was amazing, the music was good, not Michael's best at all, but it did its job. Cinematography was good, there was nothing really bad with it.

Cons: Well.....really it was just the second hour. The first hour was great, and by the end I realized they should have really developed the creature itself much more. I just kinda felt they had it there, and just did not give it enough. And the ending just felt like it was lacking because of that, it did not feel right. It just was there, I know the kids were the main focus and that was good, but the story was about this incident and I just felt they should have invested more time into that side of it as well, it just did not intertwine as well as I would have liked.

8.0/10 is what I give this, it was good, but it could have been great, it just failed in some departments because of that.

 

[Thundercrack85]

They really didn't reveal much of anything. Almost nothing about the alien, where he's from, or why he's on Earth. The military's actions, etc.

 

[Figs]

I don't have an urge to see this film and was curious as to what happens to the alien.

 

[Solidus]

I don't have an urge to see this film and was curious as to what happens to the alien.

Spoiler

It is a subterranean type of creature, and all it wants (since it crashed in 58 is to go home. The military was of course not so nice to it. So its ship is made out of these cube shapeshifting things but it needed a magnet type thing to actually repair it. But the military does not want that so the alien grabs one of the doctors and the alien is telepathic and pretty much the doctor found out it wanted to go home and was terrified on earth. So the doctor was fired years later he was the one that crashed the truck into the train to help it escape. And then it took people for food I think, though it did not really want to from what I gathered. And created a magnet thing out of tons of parts of cars TV's ect that it was stealing through out the film. And it collected the cubes back and took off in its ship. After the encounter with the main character it left them alone and ship was made and took off.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Just saw it. I liked it alot. It really connected to me. It got to me at times. Especially the father/son relationship. I loved all the filming scenes. All the actors are great and it reminds me why child actors can be a god thing if you cast them correctly. There is some good tension and scares as well.

There's definitely Spielberg influences but it is its own thing. I got E.T. vibes at times, and some of the score reminded me of Williams, but that was a fun little bonus. Abrams made his own film.

 

[The Squirrel]

I really enjoyed this movie. 8/10

 

[Kane52630]

I came back from the theater, Loved it. It reminded me a lot like E.T. (well, the kid actors in E.T.) and a mix of Cloverfield. The chemistry within the cast is phenomenal, I was more invested in them than the "creature". While people say that they are somewhat disappointed in the "creature", I didn't mind it. It is what it is and I enjoyed it especially when he goes beast mode. All in all while it has some minor problems, it's a great old school film that is a great homage to Spielberg's films.

9/10

 

[CelticPredator]

I got more Close Encounters then ET....IMO.

 

[SuperSoldier985]

The movie isn't anything special because it isn't original at all but it's a well done film and an entertaining time at the movies. The direction, actors and train crash are very good but besides that it's a pretty standard but likable film thats was obviously made just to be an homage to to magical 80's movies. A more mellow version of them though. I liked it a little more than my sister.

7.5/10

Nailed my sentiments for me.

 

[jnmx2000]

I got more Close Encounters then ET....IMO.

I feel about the same. The story itself was very close encounters, the only thing that made me connect this to ET was the kids, because they were the focus of both films, and they like to ride around on their bikes lol I loved how they actually played the film the kids made during the end credits, I watched the whole thing, I really liked how the one kid even addressed the camera when the short film was done, I thought it was sort of poking fun of how directors like to introduce trailers or feature vids sometimes and thought it was quite funny.

 

[Kane52630]

Paul gave me the feel of Close Encounters since it gave many nods to that film, Super 8 have the feel of ET just because the main cast are children discovering the "unknown".

 

[Rock Sexton]

The movie isn't anything special because it isn't original at all but it's a well done film and an entertaining time at the movies. The direction, actors and train crash are very good but besides that it's a pretty standard but likable film thats was obviously made just to be an homage to to magical 80's movies. A more mellow version of them though. I liked it a little more than my sister.

7.5/10

Pretty much the same sentiments.

I know I'm just supposed to go along with everything and have fun, but a couple of things were just too silly to me. The first was

Spoiler

how easy the children were able to navigate around what would've been restricted perimeters. The second was the evidence the teacher locked up in that "dungeon" outside of the school. The video was pretty cheesy and seemed kind of like a lazy plot device.

The ending kind of left a lot to be desired too and there were moments when I was wanting the pace to pick up.

 

[kickass]

Just saw it. 8/10.

It's really fun and the lead kid (I hope) is going to be a star.

But.............a few problems.

Spoiler

This could have really just been a Cloverfield prequel, couldn't it?
I was disappointed in the alien. Is it so hard to create something unlike Cloverfield? This was like his cousin or something. COME ON.

And the comic relief from the kids would have been delivered if they weren't all talking over each other in such a spiratic way.

The incidents happening after the train wreck........I mean, they were expected, obviously, but the connection wasn't really there. We had no hint of any sort that whatever was on the train was alive, and when **** started happening it felt more random and separated from the train wreck, as if the train had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Where did all the dogs go? They ran away...................and then what?

And please. JJ. No. More. ****ing. Lens. Flares. We don't need them THAT much!

Overall, I loved the story, the acting, the chemistry and the humour. Those were just my nitpicks lol.

 

[Airwings]

Many films with kids in the lead tend to dumb everything down so that the young characters can do the heroic acts grown-ups do and save the day. A boy/girl is often the only one to do this. I hope this will be a little different. The trailer seems to have a more realistic approach to the "children as heroes" concept. I hope the movie will follow that route as well.

Is it too much to ask for that the boy in the lead should just be a boy? I mean, if the plot leads up to any encounter with the monster, he should be wounded or else it will just be stupid. Not killed, but wounded. He could be saved by other people.

 

[flickchick85]

I'm beginning to find JJ's lens flare addiction endearing. Especially when [blackout]he literally ended the movie on a lens flare. Like, the last shot before the credits was a lens flare on a black screen as the alien ship disappeared into the night.[/blackout] I laughed out loud at that, and couldn't help but think, "yeah, he's totally just f*****g with us now."

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie, though. Mainly because the whole cast of child actors were just wonderful, and made everything so fun to watch. I mean sure, the story didn't have anything new to offer, but I definitely share that nostalgia for the old school Spielberg classics that JJ obviously has, so this very effectively tapped into that vein for me. And it helps that it was extremely well-made. I just left the theater with the biggest grin on my face, and that alone makes it a worthwhile venture, imo.

Also, the best part was [blackout]The Case.[/blackout]

 

[CelticPredator]

Lens Flares are badass.

 

[kickass]

Lens flares are cheap and annoying. I don't like to see my actors faces covered in bars of irrelevant light.

 

[Octoberist]

I give it an 8.5/10

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

I'll be seeing this in about 4 hours. Can't wait.

 

[WarBlade]

Also, the train crash is pretty incredible to watch on the big screen. Everything in that scene WORKED and the sound mixing for this sequence alone is enough to warrant an oscar nomination for best sound mixing and editing.

Actually, the overall sound mix is horrible. Forget the Oscar. It's not going to happen. The train sequence was the one part where the mix was good, and mostly that perception can be attributed to an aural illusion simply because of how much louder that part was.

What I don't get is how [BLACKOUT]something that big could fit in such a small train car.[/BLACKOUT]

Origami.

 

[Matt]

I saw it twice in one night, (not really by choice) but I did reflect on it more.

Pros: Great acting, those kids were natural and all just worked well together. The dialogue in the script was very natural as well, I truly enjoyed that, when people say "kids should not be in films" this is another among others that show that they can. Train wreck was amazing, the music was good, not Michael's best at all, but it did its job. Cinematography was good, there was nothing really bad with it.

Cons: Well.....really it was just the second hour. The first hour was great, and by the end I realized they should have really developed the creature itself much more. I just kinda felt they had it there, and just did not give it enough. And the ending just felt like it was lacking because of that, it did not feel right. It just was there, I know the kids were the main focus and that was good, but the story was about this incident and I just felt they should have invested more time into that side of it as well, it just did not intertwine as well as I would have liked.

8.0/10 is what I give this, it was good, but it could have been great, it just failed in some departments because of that.

I'm with you. Abrahms has essentially made Cloverfield in a small town and like Cloverfield, the setup is great but the climax is disappointing. That is due to Abrahms refusal to focus on the monster in his monster movies. Yes, I get that the kids are the focus (just as the group of survivors are the focus of Cloverfield) but that does not mean that there is no room to display and develop your monster.

Take King Kong for example. Anne, Jack, and Denham are the leads of the movie, yet Kong is fully fleshed out and developed. If Abrahms makes another monster movie, he needs to actually focus on the monster.

Also, was it ever explained as to why the alien was taking people?

 

[Solidus]

I'm with you. Abrahms has essentially made Cloverfield in a small town and like Cloverfield, the setup is great but the climax is disappointing. That is due to Abrahms refusal to focus on the monster in his monster movies. Yes, I get that the kids are the focus (just as the group of survivors are the focus of Cloverfield) but that does not mean that there is no room to display and develop your monster.

Take King Kong for example. Anne, Jack, and Denham are the leads of the movie, yet Kong is fully fleshed out and developed. If Abrahms makes another monster movie, he needs to actually focus on the monster.

Also, was it ever explained as to why the alien was taking people?

You know the second time I tried to look closer but it was hard to see. Because Cary (looked it up on IMDB for spelling lol) said:

Spoiler

Oh my god it's eating people!

But when I watch that scene I think it may be doing so its hard to see. And what Alice said is that its hungry and terrified. So I kinda just figured it was eating people because it was hungry. That was again slightly weak explanation of the monster.

So yea I give this film a 7.5-8/10 I really have not fully decided yet. But I agree, they really needed to focus on the monster way more. It would have made a good movie a great movie.

 

[nocomics]

I'm with you. Abrahms has essentially made Cloverfield in a small town and like Cloverfield, the setup is great but the climax is disappointing. That is due to Abrahms refusal to focus on the monster in his monster movies. Yes, I get that the kids are the focus (just as the group of survivors are the focus of Cloverfield) but that does not mean that there is no room to display and develop your monster.

Take King Kong for example. Anne, Jack, and Denham are the leads of the movie, yet Kong is fully fleshed out and developed. If Abrahms makes another monster movie, he needs to actually focus on the monster.

Also, was it ever explained as to why the alien was taking people?

I'm not sure it was fully explained,but when the kids went to save the girl,she mentioned something after they got to her. She said something to the fact its hungry and scared? So,maybe hes eating the ppl as snacks or something? But don't think it was ever implied or officially explained.
I really enjoyed the train wreck sequence thought it was well done and very intense to watch. I'm not overlly disappointed in the look of the creature;ya it kindof looked like Cloverfield, but I can overlook that to a certain degree. I just thought the scenes where u didn't see the creature was well done and had that certain scare factor or buildup..I do agree with some that when u actually see creature the scenes were kindof weaker,so in that regards I kindof wished there was more buildup as well to creature,even that meant only seeing the whole creature in last scene or something. I'll probably see this one again!

 

[Doctor Jones]

This movie had the budget of $50 million. I don't think you could have had much more time to develop the monster with that budget anyway. That's like saying an entire TF movie should be more focused on the robots. That would cost so much damn money.

Besides, I do think Abrams intentions were to focus on the characters. I do kind of wish there was another scene after the last shot though. I didn't even notice the lense flare on the last shot.

It would have been cool for the movie to end with all the kids going out to finish their film and Charlie saying, "Action!" and then cutting to black.

 

[The Chris]

How many of these movies are focused on the aliens besides E.T though? You don't see them in close encounters until the end. I prefer focusing on the humans, because in the end it's the emotional content that stays with me. I prefer the jaws style of not showing the creature until later. Bumps the tension of its scenes up.