Movies.ie

• Critic rating
• Currently 3/5 Stars.

Movies.ie Critic Review

Smalltown, Ohio, 1979, and budding teen filmmakers Joe (Courtney), Charles (Griffiths) and Cary (Lee) have convinced school beauty Alice Dainard (Fanning) to join the cast of their latest monster movie. Their secret latenight shoot is derailed though by a derailing freight train, and soon the men-in-black are swarming, determined to put their strange cargo back in the box…

THE VERDICT: A child of the Spielberg age, J.J. Abrams has the distinct advantage here when paying homage to the Norman Rockwell of modern American cinema of having the legendary man himself on board as a producer. Fittingly, the whole thing plays like a lost Spielberg gem, but, as with Cloverfield, Abrams has come up with a disappointing monster. The kids stuff is darn near perfect though… 

Review by Paul Byrne 

• Avg User rating
• Currently 4/5 Stars.

User Reviews

• • Currently 5/5 Stars.

  sarahtheissen

  

• • Currently 4/5 Stars.

  Hadouken65

  

  Loved this film, great story, great action. Was a little let down by the "Monster". Really nice, nostalgic ending.

• • Currently 4/5 Stars.

  aoibheana

  

• • Currently 5/5 Stars.

  Dr_Faulk

  

  Are you kidding me? How have the movies.ie gang given this 3 stars? This is an instant classic on the level of The Goonies, Stand By Me, E.T., Adventures in Babysitting... Fun, fast, emotional: there's everything to like about this movie. See it!

• • Currently 4/5 Stars.

  Massman

  

  Quite enjoyable, better than I expected!

• • Currently 3/5 Stars.

  bigslick184

  

  Enjoyed this film but not as much as others have. Thought was good fun but it seemed the last 20-30 mins were not as good as rest of film.

• • Currently 4/5 Stars.

  ging-grr

  

  I had heard mixed reports on this but as always I wanted to make up my own mind and I'm glad I did. I can definitely see where the comparison to the Goonies had come from. Abrams was obviously a fan of the classic Spielberg sci-fi I grew up loving as he skillfully crafts a movie that not only pays homage to a master of the craft but also manages to be a good stand alone movie without Abrams needing to resort to any elaborate plot twists. Instead he keeps the story moving along nicely and follows the plot through to it's logical conclusion. The cast put in excellent performances, the kids were excellent and they managed to convey the same sense of mystery, wonder and horror that the young cast of the Goonies did. I have to say I found it refreshing for an Abrams movie to be just a simple turn your mind off and enjoy sci fi movie. At times the plot did plod along but I don't think speeding it up would have done the movie any favours. I really enjoyed this and would highly recommend it for any fans of movies like the Goonies.

• • Currently 4/5 Stars.

  sonofabreslin

  

  Loved this. Really brought me back to movies when I was a kid, ET, the Goonies etc.

• • Currently 4/5 Stars.

  Shells

  

  An enjoyable mash up of classic kids favourites, in an E.T. meets The Goonies sort of way.

• • Currently 5/5 Stars.

  Jenfiction

  

  This dose of nostalgia really brings you back to not just a childhood of watching Spielberg films, but a reminder of your own summer holidays as a kid. Really well executed, I loved everything about this movie, definitely one of the best I have seen all year.

• • Currently 3/5 Stars.

  pkinsella

  

  Something a bit different to what is currently being made. The kids do a great job in this movie which is well shot and moves well. Would have liked a bit more to the ending but a good film.

• • Currently 3/5 Stars.

  Damirion

  

  This is a movie that had so much promise and it fell short of expectations as the storyline progressed. I love dthe opening 30-40 minutes of this movie it was done beautifully throught he eyes of the kids and the anticipation of what was going to happen next was done very well. However, as the movie progresses they really make a meal of it and the story gets incredibly dull, cheesy and predictable. It could have been so much more!

• • Currently 5/5 Stars.

  kal-el-returns

  

• • Currently 3/5 Stars.

  enigmab17

  

• • Currently 4/5 Stars.

  TheSpecs

  

  Great film. No doubt I'll be getting it on dvd to watch on rainy days. Only downfall (or is it a downfall?) is that it felt like an old monster movie. It had a nice retro feel to it and I loved it but I can't give it the five stars. Four and a half then.

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