Photo from Rotten Tomatoes
Rating: *** out of 4
The title of this movie is Super 8, but the subtitle for the film could easily be "An homage to early Spielberg". Many directors have been influenced by Steven Spielberg films such as Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and E.T. (for good reason), and have tried to make films just like his. Without Spielberg (and George Lucas), the big-budget, action-adventure summer flick probably wouldn't exist. But J.J. Abram's latest film goes to new levels of adulation.
Super 8 is about a group of boys, plus 1 girl, working on an amateur zombie, horror film in a late 1970s small town. They plan on submitting their masterpiece to a amateur film contest in Cleveland. One of the boys, Joel (played by Joe Lamb) is the main character of the story, and is trying overcome the recent death of his mother, who died in an accident while working at the local mill factory. He is now under the lone care of his father and a local deputy, Jackson (played by Friday Night Light's Kyle Chandler). It is apparent early on in the film that Jackson does not know have the strongest relationship with his son, nor can relate to his son's hobbies and interests like horror films.
The girl from the group is Alice (played by Elle Fanning), is the daughter of the town "troublemaker", for lack of a better term. Louis (played by Ron Elard) also works at the mill plant. Jackson hates Louis, Louis hates Jackson, and neither one wants their child hanging out with other one's child. Jackson, for reasons that were never explained, even arrests Louis when he shows up at their house for the funeral reception of Joel's mother. Later in the movie, we find out the feud between the two men is not because one man is law enforcement, and the other a repeat criminal.
Joel, Louis, and the other group of young people sneak out of their homes one night, and go to the local train station to film part of their zombie film. While shooting, the boys witnesses a pickup truck drive onto the track and collide with an incoming train. A massive train wreck with lots of special effects ensues, and the gang find the man in the pickup truck to still be alive. It turns out he is an old science teacher from their school, who points a gun at the kids and tells them to run away and never speak of what they saw (unless they want to be killed, along with their family). Once the kids make their escape, the train wreck (and soon the whole town) is taken over by the military, and strange things start to happen. People start to either disappear or get killed, car batteries disappear and there are constant power outages. Clearly, the somethings bad was released into the town as a result of the train wreck.
In many big-budget, action films, (too many, in fact) the characters of the film are so uninteresting that the real stars are the special effects themselves. Fortunately for Super 8, the group of young boys are definitely the most stars. They are like many entourage of young boys that exist on the silver screen that are on an adventure or quest (like Stand By Me, The Sandlot, and of course, ET). Except, these boys are a lot funnier. Each boy is their own unique character, and provides their own moments of laugh-out-loud, comic relief.
Joel, as already discussed, is the main protagonist of the story, and provides more serious moments. Then there is Charles (played by Riley Griffiths) who is the ringleader of the group, the lead director of the zombie film and definitely the biggest potty-mouth. Cary (played by Ryan Lee) is the apparent pyro of the gang, who always has plenty of fire-crackers on hand to ignite. And Martin (played Gabriel Basso) is the group's more serious-minded, nerdy character (as established by the pair of glasses he wears) who will throw up anytime there is trouble. And yes, he throws up a lot in this movie.
As for the special effects Super 8, and there are plenty of them, they not anything to boast given how prevalence of CGI already is. The moments of action and suspense are neither that action-packed, nor suspenseful. And the storyline of the movie takes too many predictable turns, including the ending of the film. Indeed, Abrams was trying too much to make an homage to Close Encounters and ET that there wasn't much of his own, personal touch in the film (with the exception of the boys and their efforts to make the zombie film).
Still, this film is enjoyable to watch, and much better than most big-budget films that Hollywood craps out every summer. Enjoy this film if you want a fun time, and if you do see this movie, wait a minute at the end when the credits start rolling it. Trust me!
Super 8 is about a group of boys, plus 1 girl, working on an amateur zombie, horror film in a late 1970s small town. They plan on submitting their masterpiece to a amateur film contest in Cleveland. One of the boys, Joel (played by Joe Lamb) is the main character of the story, and is trying overcome the recent death of his mother, who died in an accident while working at the local mill factory. He is now under the lone care of his father and a local deputy, Jackson (played by Friday Night Light's Kyle Chandler). It is apparent early on in the film that Jackson does not know have the strongest relationship with his son, nor can relate to his son's hobbies and interests like horror films.
The girl from the group is Alice (played by Elle Fanning), is the daughter of the town "troublemaker", for lack of a better term. Louis (played by Ron Elard) also works at the mill plant. Jackson hates Louis, Louis hates Jackson, and neither one wants their child hanging out with other one's child. Jackson, for reasons that were never explained, even arrests Louis when he shows up at their house for the funeral reception of Joel's mother. Later in the movie, we find out the feud between the two men is not because one man is law enforcement, and the other a repeat criminal.
Joel, Louis, and the other group of young people sneak out of their homes one night, and go to the local train station to film part of their zombie film. While shooting, the boys witnesses a pickup truck drive onto the track and collide with an incoming train. A massive train wreck with lots of special effects ensues, and the gang find the man in the pickup truck to still be alive. It turns out he is an old science teacher from their school, who points a gun at the kids and tells them to run away and never speak of what they saw (unless they want to be killed, along with their family). Once the kids make their escape, the train wreck (and soon the whole town) is taken over by the military, and strange things start to happen. People start to either disappear or get killed, car batteries disappear and there are constant power outages. Clearly, the somethings bad was released into the town as a result of the train wreck.
In many big-budget, action films, (too many, in fact) the characters of the film are so uninteresting that the real stars are the special effects themselves. Fortunately for Super 8, the group of young boys are definitely the most stars. They are like many entourage of young boys that exist on the silver screen that are on an adventure or quest (like Stand By Me, The Sandlot, and of course, ET). Except, these boys are a lot funnier. Each boy is their own unique character, and provides their own moments of laugh-out-loud, comic relief.
Joel, as already discussed, is the main protagonist of the story, and provides more serious moments. Then there is Charles (played by Riley Griffiths) who is the ringleader of the group, the lead director of the zombie film and definitely the biggest potty-mouth. Cary (played by Ryan Lee) is the apparent pyro of the gang, who always has plenty of fire-crackers on hand to ignite. And Martin (played Gabriel Basso) is the group's more serious-minded, nerdy character (as established by the pair of glasses he wears) who will throw up anytime there is trouble. And yes, he throws up a lot in this movie.
As for the special effects Super 8, and there are plenty of them, they not anything to boast given how prevalence of CGI already is. The moments of action and suspense are neither that action-packed, nor suspenseful. And the storyline of the movie takes too many predictable turns, including the ending of the film. Indeed, Abrams was trying too much to make an homage to Close Encounters and ET that there wasn't much of his own, personal touch in the film (with the exception of the boys and their efforts to make the zombie film).
Still, this film is enjoyable to watch, and much better than most big-budget films that Hollywood craps out every summer. Enjoy this film if you want a fun time, and if you do see this movie, wait a minute at the end when the credits start rolling it. Trust me!
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