Super 8

The first half was definitely a lot stronger, because by the second half I was having trouble keeping my attention at times. In fact, I started to get slightly lost in the fight scenes and I wasn’t really feeling any suspense. I'm definitely not disappointed though. You can smell good old Spielberg and it maintains its grandeur. The child cast in particular was excellent. Elle Fanning has grown up and is already a great actress. A weaker 4 stars. (12/08/2011)

This film is so simple that it’s not even nice. Yes, Abrams knows how to ignite the protagonists, himself, and even the viewer. Yes, it is a sincere film that won't offend anyone. But everything is a cliché worn a hundred times over that often leaves you astonished, unfortunately not in a completely positive sense. It is perhaps a slightly unconventional film about aliens (from the perspective of the predominantly child main characters), but that doesn't make it valuable. But it can’t be denied that Abrams knows how to direct actors, the chemistry between the main characters is excellent. There's no need to dissect the visuals, that is already clear, but having the feeling that for 112 minutes I am essentially watching a children's film, that probably wasn't the intention (family entertainment). A quite hesitant film. The trailer was probably about 200 percent better. (01/07/2012)

Spielberg 101? No way, this is a far more advanced class. Apart from the final emotions between parents and children, everything works in this film. What surprised me the most was how likeable the kids are, and their good performances – especially Elle Fanning and Joel Courtney. If Abrams made a serious sci-fi thriller with the same skill, I would be jumping in joy, even higher than now, but this badass E.T. phone home is just great. You won’t see hectolitres of blood flowing from the screen (though there are a couple of proper horror scenes: the attack on the petrol station and the underground liar), but you’ll get hectolitres of love for cinema. Unless you need to prove to yourself or someone else that family adventure films are below your “level”, this film can never offend you – so I don’t understand the initial displeasure here in Filmbooster. It’s a very subjective full house (I am aware of several screenwriting crutches in the second half), but also very strong. The most pleasant film of the year. (08/30/2011)

Abrams is a trendsetter, not a plagiarist, and this split between the creator's founding and the essence of his project can be seen in Super 8. But that's not the only schism: consider that Super 8 is supposed to be a children's movie, but it's actually much more for the "dad" generation. The current "youth with headphones on" (to paraphrase one of the film's characters) has little chance of applauding the precision of the compliments J.J. pays to the great master, and I, as a generational target suckled by Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T., was wrong about the ending, which was clearly directed at greedy audiences suckled by rather modern blockbusters. Abrams should have just made a choice - either totally consistent retro or updated modernity. I can't say I didn't enjoy Super 8 on the contrary. The first half in particular is luxurious, and when I remembered in one ultra-Spielberg scene that I was sitting in the same movie theatre where I had once breathlessly watched E.T. in the days of normalization, if felt pleasant goosebumps go over my body. Unfortunately, the goosebumps did not last through the finale, where the mysterious originator of all the phenomenon unmasks himself and looks too forgettable. And the kids are right when they say to themselves so often: "Shut up, already!" They should indeed have shut up. The version with dubbing is a clear ***, aware of the atrocious one-liners spoken by the little Czech bastards, I conditionally give to the fairly questionable project of J.J. Abrams one extra star. (08/25/2011)

J.J. Abrams uses exactly the trick that Steven Spielberg used thirty years ago to captivate audiences in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. What the children do and how they explore the circumstances surrounding the unknown phenomenon makes sense. What all the various parents do, however, feels less genuine, and suddenly, the majority of adult characters seem very unfamiliar, and the viewer must root for the children's efforts to succeed down to the last detail. This may explain why a wider range of viewers were disappointed. But after a minute, I understood that I would love the main group and had a clear view. A nostalgic sci-fi in the most positive sense. (09/01/2011)