So, this movie was pretty hyped.\u00a0 I think that’s going to end up biting ad companies in the ass.\u00a0 Spielberg started it all (or whomever was doing his marketing) with Jaws, with an unprecedented media blitz to generate hype for the film.\u00a0 But that’s a dangerous game, friendo.\u00a0 I mean eventually nobody will give a shit about anything.\u00a0 (dramatic pause as I realize with horror this has already happened…)<\/p>\n
I think this movie will be more ill received than it ought to be because of its over-hype.<\/p>\n
All that out of the way, this was a charming little movie.\u00a0 Imagine if the kids from Stand By Me<\/em> saw a train from Area-51 derail.\u00a0 That’s the basic idea.\u00a0 A group of friends begin their summer by making a monster movie for a local film festival.\u00a0 They’ve convinced the hot girl from school to be in it.\u00a0 They have a scene at a real train station as a real train is going by to make their movie look real.\u00a0 This happens to be an Air Force train and it happens to derail in spectacular fashion.\u00a0 They drop their camera and run, but the camera continues to record and it documents something tear its way out of the train.<\/p>\n Then of course, weird shit starts to go down.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 The town is almost (not quite) a character itself.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n The thing about this film is that it doesn’t really do anything new.\u00a0 Everything in this movie you’ve seen somewhere else.\u00a0 And not in a badass, Kill Bill<\/em> kind of way.\u00a0 More in a way that annoys you a little.\u00a0 The scientists are good.\u00a0 The military is bad.\u00a0 The hot girl is in danger.\u00a0 People come to terms with things.\u00a0 Which isn’t necessarily the problem, the problem is all the pieces of this puzzle were better somewhere else.\u00a0 The father getting over his wife’s death during an alien invasion was better in Signs<\/em>.\u00a0 The scientist is good\/military is bad back and forth in this film is very close to Starman<\/em>.\u00a0 The clique of close friends was better in Stand by Me<\/em>.<\/p>\n This movie isn’t bad, its just not special.\u00a0 It brings nothing new to the table.<\/p>\n Oh well.\u00a0 They can’t all be District 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So, this movie was pretty hyped.\u00a0 I think that’s going to end up biting ad companies in the ass.\u00a0 Spielberg started it all (or whomever was doing his marketing) with Jaws, with an unprecedented media blitz to generate hype for … Continue reading