Super 8

Data
Title: Super 8
Year: 2011
Length: 112 minutes
Director: J.J. Abrams
Writer: J.J. Abrams
Starring: lens flares, Joel Courtney
With: Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee, Gabriel Basso, Zach Mills, Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard, Amanda Michalka, Elle Fanning, Glynn Turman, Noah Emmerich, David Gallagher, Brett Rice
Music: Michael Giacchino (and non-original music)
Cinematography: Larry Fong
Editing: Maryann Brandon, Mary Jo Markey
I saw it: in the theater, a couple days ago
Synopsis: kids try to make a zombie movie while a space monster is hiding in their town

My reaction
Concept:
Story: The ending kind of blows. Not blows as in Lost - it's just kind of disproportionately uncreative.
Characters:
Dialog:
Pacing:
Cinematography: Damnit, enough with the damn lens flares already! Watching a J.J. Abrams movie, it's kind of like having him in the room, jumping up and down next to the screen pointing at it, yelling, "Hey! Look what I did there! Check it out!"
Special effects/design:
Acting: Fanning is great. Courtney is fine, considering that his part is too demanding to expect a kid to pull off.
Music:
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, ). Fun and entertaining. Unfortunately, it's a J.J. Abrams movie, and never lets you forget it. Um, J.J? Maybe next time you taunt us with your "magic box," you could put something inside it first. As far as channeling Spielberg goes, the focus there is on his corny tropes, not on his storytelling skill.
Objective Rating (Average):