after the failures that were Transformers 2 and GI Joe, we finally have a movie this summer that sets the bar for what future films should be. To me the most crucial element of any film is balance. and this movie had everything from an interesting and original story, great character development and superb special effects. and everyone of those elements is harmonized with each other. so there is no feeling of "there was too much of blood" or "they could have cut back on the vulgar language." every element of this movie fits together like a puzzle, that took you days to finish, and now that it's finally done you want to cherish the moment and rebuild the puzzle all over again. and that is what this film did for me. it made me want to go see it again, even on the same day and if i had the money for a later showing i totally would.

now the actual plot of this film involves a peaceful alien race who have been stranded on earth and need assistance. the humans, being our natural helpful selves, (and I mean that sarcastically) help the aliens out, hoping that they would eventually leave. 28 years had past after the first contact and the aliens still hadn't left. As the story progresses we begin to sympathize with the aliens more then the humans. and once that final act starts you are all for what the aliens are fighting for. towards the end my throat started getting dry and actually felt like screaming out loud "You mother F*cker" that is how involved i was in the characters and story.

the beginning of the film, is more or less shot using documentary style film making and some would find this uninteresting but this film takes the seemingly always boring documentary and intertwines it with an interesting story that makes you feel like that event could happen. it also provides the backstory in a creative and original matter without going through a flashback sequence which, i think, is used to much in certain films and defeats the purpose of having the flashback there in the first place.

the middle and end of this film is more like the movies we are used to seeing these days with lots of stuff blowing up and awesome special effects, but doesn't have so much to were you think you are watching GI Joe. and the transition from the documentary shot opening to the middle is executed so fluidly that you don't get that sudden and abrupt cut where you can tell this is where the changed the tone of the movie.

the thing that sold me and pushed me up to my "worth the hype" rating (translated to "better then sex") were the messages and themes this movie had. this movie is an allusion of all the horrible and terrible things man kind has done in the past, such as the holocaust, and makes you realize that even the most unsuspecting man, women or child can be pure evil.

My rating for this film is a "worth the hype" ("better the sex") or the traditional 5 star rating