SUPER 8

The train carrying a dangerous passenger

 SUPER 8 (2011). Writer/director: J. J. Abrahms.

In 1979 a bunch of kids are making a movie with a super 8 camera when they witness a train crash, which precipitates some very mysterious events: a monster is on the loose in town and there's a governmental cover-up. Frankly, there's too much of the youngsters and not enough of the monster in this Cloverfield derivative, which borders on a parody at times. Not only is this often too intense for children, but the humorous tone is completely at odds with the grim proceedings -- the "sensitive" scenes are undercut by the ugliness. This is another of those movies where we're asked to have sympathy for a man-eating alien while the deaths of innocent people go ignored. The ending involving a locket is sentimentalism at its worst. Stupid and not that entertaining. Elle Fanning makes an impression as Alice.

Verdict: Childish in the worst sense of the word. **.