Super 8 is set in a time before cell phones and texting when friendships required a little more work on the part of those involved. We meet our rag-tag group of friends in the late seventies as they band together to film a zombie movie for a student film festival. Charles (Riley Griffiths) has come up with the idea and is directing, while Joe (Joel Courtney) and the other kids act as the crew and cast. In the midst of shooting, they decide they need a wife for the detective and cast Alice (Elle Fanning) in the role but are unsure of her abilities. While they are filming a new mushy scene at the train station she puts heart and soul into the acting and they all fall head over heels…but that was just the rehearsal. A train is on its way so they hurry to shoot the real deal. We then get the most amazing action sequence of the movie, the train crash. As a purveyor of disaster films I’d say the train sequence ranks up there with the best of them.
As the town deals with aftermath we see a movie that is based more on friendship and family rather than the science fiction that you might expect. There is also a pretty hefty amount of comedic relief provided by the kid’s interactions among themselves. Of course, there are also tragic backstories that always seem to riddle small towns in movies like this. The friendship and family aspects are pretty strong with great performances by all of the children, especially Elle Fanning. I’d have to say she steals the show. However, the emotional aspects seems to stand apart from the science fiction part of the film. In fact, the science fiction seems more like an afterthought.
I also can’t decide if I like the fact that the movie is set in the seventies. I mean, we already have countless other films from that time period. I get that J.J. Abrams wants to pay homage to all of his favorite movies but can’t he give us a movie set closer to present day? However, the movie’s setting DOES work excellently with the story. I also feel it is the story of what J.J and Steven wished would have happened to them as children; the whole science fiction bit.
The fact that this original film isn’t entirely driven by action and more by characters definitely makes it stand out in a summer of high action sequels. Not only is this one of the few original films coming out this summer but J.J Abrams does a great job of getting his actors to portray emotion on film and their performances definitely merit a visit to the theater.
8/10 STARS
(Trailer and photo – Paramount Studios)
