I have to start this review by mentioning that I'm not a JJ Abrams fan. His movies have never really done anything for me and his penchant for unnecessary lens fare annoys me. Given that, I have to take a step back and say that this review could be harsher than it should be and I think that Super 8 is good enough that if you go in and just go along for the ride, it is entertaining enough. But the ending is laughable and pretty nonsensical and the film definitely feels like two different scripts sandwiched together.

The story I've heard is that JJ Abrams had two moves he wanted to make: a monster movie and a coming-of-age movie about kids trying to make a zombie movie. At some point, he decided to merge the two films, which is a shame because I think the coming-of-age story might have been something. By far, the strongest parts of Super 8 are with the kids. When they aren't on the screen, the movie either devolves into Cloverfield or is just hokey. This isn't to say that the coming-of-age story is by any means new but the dialogue and performances by the kids makes it entertaining.

As for the monster movie, where to begin? The first issue is that the decision to hide the monster was just dead wrong. It adds next to nothing. In Jaws, when the main characters see the shark for the first time, it's a game changer. They now realize that they are in over their heads. In Super 8, the audience is already aware that there is a monster and that it's beyond dangerous and when the kids finally figure it out, the whole town is already in a panic and it doesn't really change anything. They went from knowing something was seriously wrong to now knowing what it is that is exactly wrong. Sometimes this kind of reveal can work but in this case it doesn't because the audience was just too far ahead of the main characters and, also, the reveal of what the monster looked like didn't really further the kids' ability to save the day.

I won't go into the problems with the ending (which I think most everyone will see as obvious) but I will say that it rivals The Adjustment Bureau in terms of an ending that almost completely derails the rest of the film.

There is a good film (or two) in Super 8 but because Abrams and Spielberg couldn't commit to which one they wanted to focus on, the movie becomes a somewhat disjointed, half-baked, but well made venture. I wouldn't recommend rushing out to see it but, as I mentioned earlier, I'm not a fan of Abrams so this is a case in which I'm probably not the person to go to for a recommendation.