So, this movie was pretty hyped. I think that’s going to end up biting ad companies in the ass. Spielberg started it all (or whomever was doing his marketing) with Jaws, with an unprecedented media blitz to generate hype for the film. But that’s a dangerous game, friendo. I mean eventually nobody will give a shit about anything. (dramatic pause as I realize with horror this has already happened…)
I think this movie will be more ill received than it ought to be because of its over-hype.
All that out of the way, this was a charming little movie. Imagine if the kids from Stand By Me saw a train from Area-51 derail. That’s the basic idea. A group of friends begin their summer by making a monster movie for a local film festival. They’ve convinced the hot girl from school to be in it. They have a scene at a real train station as a real train is going by to make their movie look real. This happens to be an Air Force train and it happens to derail in spectacular fashion. They drop their camera and run, but the camera continues to record and it documents something tear its way out of the train.
Then of course, weird shit starts to go down.
The world is well built, the small town along the train tracks is full of charming (though stock) characters and everyone knows everybody well enough to make for some good growing up humor. The town is almost (not quite) a character itself. The hot girl from school ends up being a natural actress (who saw that coming?) and there’s a well established yet palatable level of adorableness to the whole thing.
The thing about this film is that it doesn’t really do anything new. Everything in this movie you’ve seen somewhere else. And not in a badass, Kill Bill kind of way. More in a way that annoys you a little. The scientists are good. The military is bad. The hot girl is in danger. People come to terms with things. Which isn’t necessarily the problem, the problem is all the pieces of this puzzle were better somewhere else. The father getting over his wife’s death during an alien invasion was better in Signs. The scientist is good/military is bad back and forth in this film is very close to Starman. The clique of close friends was better in Stand by Me.
This movie isn’t bad, its just not special. It brings nothing new to the table.
Oh well. They can’t all be District 9.