Super 8 Film Review on LDS Author [Regarding Super 8 science fiction film] For those with a special desire to see Kyle Chandler in a new role, or a new monster in an old role, this movie certainly can satisfy . . . but the production could have been much better, probably at every stage from writing to directing. Kyle Chandler performed without flaw, as far as I could tell, and the young acting talent did well with some challenging roles. The monster was frightening enough, under the limitations of the weakness amplified throughout this science fiction thriller. But those weaknesses could have been avoided. A science fiction need not have every strange thing carefully prepared. Of course not. But the general rule for all storytelling should generally be followed, at least part-time: Something far out of the ordinary should be preceded by some preparation, even if only a partial explanation, at least sometimes. Vary from that once or twice, if you will, but disregard the principle entirely (as in Lady in the Water) and you should expect a discriminating viewer to be greatly disappointed. In a science fiction film, not every strange thing needs preparation . . . But some things sometimes need preparation, and in Super 8 viewers can become bewildered, not at the extreme destruction from a super monster but at the super human emotional abilities of teenagers: Most of them adapt far too readily to stress . . . Forget the super destructive power of the alien monster; what about several teenage companions who consistently display super emotional powers to withstand that monster? I realize that young persons sometimes behaved a bit too bravely in E.T., and the storytelling was masterful in that film, but that fault is magnified in Super 8, for the lengthy preparation in E.T. is absent, and the monster is indescribably more monstrous. Super 8 Science Fiction Film Review, LDS Author In science fiction, we don’t necessarily need preparation for a monstrous unseen something to break out of a train car or for a car to drive onto train tracks and purposefully crash into an oncoming train, causing a derailment; either one is natural to the genre. But for both to occur in quick succession is asking a bit much of the viewer. The 2011 Sci-Fi Film Fails to Satisfy Some Viewers “In Super 8, we are well prepared to empathize with the boy who lost his mother and has great difficulty communicating with his father. . . . we are prepared to love the teenagers; but are not prepared for them to suddenly be super brave or (with one boy) to be a practically-fearless hero. This film could have been much better had it been longer with strange things prepared for, or had it given less emphasis on preparing us to love those kids and more emphasis on preparing us for the weirdness of that monster.”