The dialogue is absolutely the standout.

Some of the early shifts in tone are a little jarring, but it's all good. They work separately decently well until they come together, and even though this prevents it from 4-star status, it was never that bothersome.

The adults have nothing to do, so I wish they'd cut the adults out more. Keep it from the perspective of the child-- don't even give us the scene of Kyle Chandler kicking ass like we care, cuz we sorta don't.

I loved the kids. Loved loved loved them. Elle Fanning was sensational, as was the kid who was the director. Also, every school has that pyro kid. Perfect casting.

The shtick of scaring us in the middle of a boring conversation might have been done once too many-- but I don't like being scared. I am grateful for the bus scare because my date literally ended up out of her seat in my lap, she jumped so high. Thank you, JJ.

The "corniness" of the ending in no way bothered me. It's no cornier than the ending of ET or Close Encounters. If you were less emotionally invested, then you have more of a problem with the rest of the film, not the ending. I was pretty emotionally invested, so I dug it. The necklace moment was especially great to me. How else did you expect it to end? lol

Overall, not the grand slam I wanted, but a solid home run nevertheless. My date agreed with me that it was better than X-Men: First Class, which makes it the best summer action movie so far this year.