Starring: Joel Courtney, Riley Griffiths, Elle Fanning, and Kyle Chandler
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Written by: J.J. Abrams
It's always fun to watch a movie where the main plot is the main characters making another movie. A movie within a movie. Like Inception but without the dreams. Kind of cool right? Especially with Super 8.
Flash back to 1979 in a small town in Ohio known as Lilian. Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) and Charles Kaznyk (Riley Griffiths) are amateur filmmakers that can't be older than thirteen. They're making a zombie movie with their friends on a Super 8 camera (8 as in 8mm film) when the impossible happens. A train derailment right in front of them. But this isn't just any train derailment. It's a top secret project that has to be covered up by the Air Force, the people who are working on it.
This "project" just so happens to be an extra terrestrial monster that terrorizes the sleepy little town and scares the hell out of everyone there. First, things like household items disappear, then pets, then people. And for what reason? Unknown. But Charles and Joe are going to do anything to get footage of the terrifying incident integrated into their film, and to find their friend.
Steven Spielberg is the executive producer on Super 8 and honestly, it's a classic Spielberg film. Something strange happens and everybody's excited about it somehow, but mostly scared to death about it. The acting is excellent with everyone delivering strong performances. I also like how the cast is not very well known. I've never heard of any of the actors in the film, mostly because many of them are kids as opposed to adults.
Also, we see the characters develop a lot over the course of the movie, mostly with the different relationships amongst each other. Especially between Joe and Alice (Elle Fanning). At first we see two characters who hardly know each other, but towards the end become much better friends. Also, Joe and Charles seem to become further apart. Their friendship diminishes over the course of the film.
My biggest problem with the film is that the story doesn't go in the direction that would make it a more original storyline. As the movie goes on, it becomes less about the kids' movie and more about the town dealing with the monster. Again, classic. Not original. It's more of a disaster movie than anything else. I would have liked to see more of the kids trying to film their movie and integrating the new situation into it. It would have made the final product (which can be seen during the credits) more interesting and with more natural special effects, therefore making an excellent amateur film.
Another problem is that we don't even see any of the monster until almost three quarters of the way through the film. It would have been more suspenseful if we didn't see any of the monster until the very end, in this case similar to Cloverfield (2008).
You don't have to be a fan of Sci-Fi to enjoy Super 8. It's a good drama with a little bit of science fiction. If you're a fan of suspenseful films, you'll enjoy Super 8. It leaves us hanging for much of the movie because the people who know all the answers never tell. It's also not terribly bloody, a little more than normal for a PG-13 movie, but still can be handled by those who might get queasy at the sight of too much blood. In short, Super 8 is a movie you won't want to miss.
Super 8 comes in at an A-.
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Written by: J.J. Abrams
It's always fun to watch a movie where the main plot is the main characters making another movie. A movie within a movie. Like Inception but without the dreams. Kind of cool right? Especially with Super 8.
Flash back to 1979 in a small town in Ohio known as Lilian. Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) and Charles Kaznyk (Riley Griffiths) are amateur filmmakers that can't be older than thirteen. They're making a zombie movie with their friends on a Super 8 camera (8 as in 8mm film) when the impossible happens. A train derailment right in front of them. But this isn't just any train derailment. It's a top secret project that has to be covered up by the Air Force, the people who are working on it.
This "project" just so happens to be an extra terrestrial monster that terrorizes the sleepy little town and scares the hell out of everyone there. First, things like household items disappear, then pets, then people. And for what reason? Unknown. But Charles and Joe are going to do anything to get footage of the terrifying incident integrated into their film, and to find their friend.
Steven Spielberg is the executive producer on Super 8 and honestly, it's a classic Spielberg film. Something strange happens and everybody's excited about it somehow, but mostly scared to death about it. The acting is excellent with everyone delivering strong performances. I also like how the cast is not very well known. I've never heard of any of the actors in the film, mostly because many of them are kids as opposed to adults.
Also, we see the characters develop a lot over the course of the movie, mostly with the different relationships amongst each other. Especially between Joe and Alice (Elle Fanning). At first we see two characters who hardly know each other, but towards the end become much better friends. Also, Joe and Charles seem to become further apart. Their friendship diminishes over the course of the film.
My biggest problem with the film is that the story doesn't go in the direction that would make it a more original storyline. As the movie goes on, it becomes less about the kids' movie and more about the town dealing with the monster. Again, classic. Not original. It's more of a disaster movie than anything else. I would have liked to see more of the kids trying to film their movie and integrating the new situation into it. It would have made the final product (which can be seen during the credits) more interesting and with more natural special effects, therefore making an excellent amateur film.
Another problem is that we don't even see any of the monster until almost three quarters of the way through the film. It would have been more suspenseful if we didn't see any of the monster until the very end, in this case similar to Cloverfield (2008).
You don't have to be a fan of Sci-Fi to enjoy Super 8. It's a good drama with a little bit of science fiction. If you're a fan of suspenseful films, you'll enjoy Super 8. It leaves us hanging for much of the movie because the people who know all the answers never tell. It's also not terribly bloody, a little more than normal for a PG-13 movie, but still can be handled by those who might get queasy at the sight of too much blood. In short, Super 8 is a movie you won't want to miss.
Super 8 comes in at an A-.
Definitely sounds like "A movie even Mom would like!"
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