Super 8 Review
If you’re not familiar with popular culture (I would wonder why you’re here, firstly) then there’s a possibility you don’t know who JJ Abrams or Steven Spielberg are.
In short: Abrams is behind great shows like Lost and Fringe and the hit films Star Trek and Cloverfield; Spielberg is behind a whole lot more, including ET, Indiana Jones and Transformers (there are more, of course, but these ones are very nerdy and brilliant).
Super 8 is their love-child-film. It contains some of the best of Abrams and the somewhat ridiculousness of Spielberg.
Lots of people are wondering what it’s about. So far a friend has determined that it has a derailed train, dogs gone missing and Spielberg, which is pretty accurate. It also features the kids in the picture below:
They're so crazy...
So, who are these kids? Well, the one wearing the headphones is a bossy director. The guy in green is the make-up artist (he’s just looking through the camera). The one in the suit is the lead actor.
The guy beside him is the supporting actor (and overall the least interesting of the kids in the film…) and the girl is the lead actress. There’s also another supporting actor.
They’re making a film of their own. Which is when, in the trailer, you see the lovely big explosion pictured below.
Ka-Boom!
The kid in green is the protagonist of the film, but it doesn’t seem too important in Super 8. The characters – particularly the children – fulfil very particular roles. They are 1970s archetypes, but hilariously and brilliantly portrayed. With everything going on around them, they’re forced to be themselves but on a bigger level. It’s not just about getting the film made. It’s about survival.
The film is filled with suspense and excitement, and even when you expect something to happen you get caught off guard. Personal experience: I jumped in my seat because the thing I expected to happen did happen. What made me jump of course was that I was expecting an Abrams moment. It was an Abrams moment, but delivered in a Spielberg way. These two together is a dangerous mix of cinematic explosion. It’s really something very special. The visuals in Super 8 are totally worth going to see, and that’s aside from the brilliant plot – Abrams is a great writer and it can’t be denied.
What really gets the film into deeper levels beyond big explosions and all sorts of fancy effects and hilarious characters is the scene at the film’s start that I can sum up in one word: grief. Grief, and a terrible grief at that, is one of the great driving forces behind the very human story behind Super 8. It connects a father to his son, a boy and a girl, a father to his daughter and the town to a family. And of course, when you bring in a monster, these relationships are pushed to their limits. Even if I could get a picture of the big bad monster, I wouldn’t post it. Part of the trick to the film – that’s been done before with Lost and Cloverfield – is to hide the monster until it’s time to reveal it.
So many people are calling this the film of the summer and they’re right. No matter what else comes out this summer – and I’ve seen the listings – it won’t match up the tour de force that is Super 8. This is the film worth seeing. And it won’t make you feel ill…like Cloverfield.
Rating: 
Director: JJ Abrams
Age rating: US – PG-13, UK & Ireland – 12a
Release date: US – June 10th, 2011, UK – August 5th, 2011
