Film Review: Super 8 (2011)

Star Trek (2009) director J.J. Abrams’s long-awaited monster flick has arrived and it hardly disappoints.  Meant to be a tribute to Steven Spielberg’s early Amblin movies and some of his other productions, the film evokes child-like wonder and excitement that summer blockbusters hope to elicit in audiences but often fail to achieve nowadays.  Abrams’s latest directorial effort not only is imaginative entertainment but also has a heart to it.  While the dramatic climax may underwhelm or miss the target somewhat, the film has more emotional depth than most summer fare and features great performances from its leading young, mostly unknown actors.  Besides, it isn’t a sequel, prequel, reboot, or spin-off; it is a largely original science-fiction flick mixed with a sweet coming-of-age tale.  In short, Super 8 (2011) is spectacular entertainment that should please all audiences, especially the credits scene; it is one of the best summer blockbusters 2011 has to offer given its sense of nostalgia, wonder, suspense, and emotion – they simply don’t make many movies like this anymore.

The title refers to the Super 8 mm film camera that filmmakers often used in the 1960s-1970s, not the hotel chain, and it is the basis for the film’s plot.  Preadolescent Joe Lamb, who recently lost his mother to a work-related accident, is a talented makeup artist who wants to help finish his best friend Charles’s zombie movie during the summer of 1979 in the small town of Lillian, Ohio.  After enlisting a couple other friends and fellow students, including Alice the daughter of Louis Dainard who was implicated in Joe’s mother’s death, the young crew goes to a local railroad station to complete a scene in their movie.  While filming it, they witness a devastating Air Force train crash that an oncoming truck mysteriously caused.  A terrifying creature breaks out of one of the train’s cars and is caught on Charles’s Super 8 camera, but the kids, along with the audience, doesn’t get a good glimpse of the monster until much later.  After the event, bizarre and frightening incidents begin popping up all over the county as the military slowly invades and takes control of the town.  Super 8 follows Joe, Charles, Alice and the others as they continue making their zombie flick, but with much better production value now with a disaster around, while investigating the strange occurrences and secretive contents of the train.  In addition, Joe and his father Jackson, the Deputy Sheriff of the town, try to move on from their recent loss and grief that has strained their already complicated relationship, which also affects Joe’s friendships – this storyline is where the heart mostly lies, as well as Joe’s interactions with Charles and Alice.

Because the film is split (though not 50/50) between being a monster flick and coming-of-age drama, neither is fully developed like it should be.  By the end of the movie, viewers may feel the alien’s back-story is rather thin and underdeveloped (i.e. abrupt ending that may frustrate many viewers) if the story was meant to focus on it.  However, while it pushes the plot along, providing a good deal of suspense and action, the creature seems to take a backseat at times.  In other words, the monster is essentially secondary to the story.  Furthermore, because the narrative concentrates on the “tweenagers,” many of the adult characters are underdeveloped as well.  For instance, Noah Emmerich is an effectively unsympathetic villain as Colonel Nelec but the character is not fleshed out much more than that, as is the enigmatic Dr. Woodward character.  Even the fathers, Jackson and Louis, played fine by Kyle Chandler and Ron Eldred, disappear for a bout of time and aren’t afforded an adequate amount of screen-time for their characters’ growth that the screenplay hopes to achieve; perhaps a few more scenes involving how life was prior to the factory accident would have provided the necessary depth to the adult characters and storyline, key to one of the film’s climactic and more emotional moments.  Nonetheless, Super 8 still features a solid, maybe above average, monster plot that wonderfully gives an extra layer to the coming-of-age narrative.

While the adults simmer, largely due to less screen-time and focus, the teenage characters shine thanks to exceptional, credible performances by the young cast.  Joel Courtney makes an impressive professional debut as the central character Joe, whereas the successful Elle Fanning turns in another outstanding performance as Alice.  She steals the show in what might be her best leading performance yet (then again I haven’t seen Sophia Coppola’s critically acclaimed Somewhere [2010]); her railroad scene rehearsal is incredible.  Courtney and Fanning show off an extraordinary amount of range, for child actors, to make the film more sincere and convincing.  Riley Griffiths is also superb in his animated role as young director Charles; actually, he outshines Courtney at times and may be the more memorable personality of the duo, considering that Joe is a reserved individual, apart from rising to the occasion and the focus given to him in the film.  The rest of their crew, Martin the actor, Preston the lighting guy and extra, and Cary the firebug cameraman and extra, is just as delightfully thanks to quirky acting from Gabriel Basso, Zach Mills, and Ryan Lee (respectively); the last of which is hilarious as a pyromaniac and frequent zombie in their production.  Although the script partly deserves credit for creating plausible child characters, all of the young cast members bring them to life with vibrant, realistic turns that help make the story more exciting and emotional.

With such a pedigree as a producer and writer in both film and television (i.e. Armageddon [1998], Cloverfield [2008], Alias [TV], Lost [TV], Fringe [TV]), it’s hard to believe Abrams has directed only two films other than Super 8: Mission: Impossible III (2006) and Star Trek.  Moreover, this is the first feature film that Abrams has both written and directed, but the product is no less stunning than his previous works.  He brings an acute eye for visual flare, often literally with his myriad lens flares, and understands how to produce wonder in the audience, whether it is through highly-kinetic, suspenseful action or intriguing plot and character developments.  He has established himself as one of Hollywood’s brightest young directors that is habitually inspired by Spielberg, particularly his earlier works, who serves as one of the film’s producers.

In fact, Super 8 is a homage to Spielberg’s works, particularly his earlier ones.  Clearly, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and E.T. (1982) had a large influence on Super 8, but several others had notable impacts in the creation of the film.  For instance, the minimal amount of screen-time and delayed full appearance by the shark in Jaws (1975) was mostly out of necessity (the machine kept breaking down), but it proved to be a vital lesson in science-fiction canon where the editor realized the suspense would be amplified if the creature remains hidden for most of the movie; besides, it simply looked silly in full, uninterrupted view.  In sum, the less-is-more concept developed.  While this model grew out of practicality, Abrams took heed with the monster in Super 8 and never gives sustained glances at it until the film’s final act; throughout it all, though, the special effects are state-of-the-art but still not perfect (then again, what CGI is?).  In addition, the monster’s attack on a bus brings up memories of the gripping T-Rex attack on the tour vehicles in Jurassic Park (1993), and the overall focus on a group of kids’ adventures is similar to The Goonies (1985).  Several other Spielberg directed or produced movies come to mind at times throughout the film, but those are some of the more notable ones.  Besides similar story and character elements, Abrams reteamed with Star Trek composer Michael Giacchino, who also previously composed the score for Lost, Up (2009) and other Pixar films, to create a score that is very John Williams-esque (also compiling a hip 1970s soundtrack for the movie); it is full of wonder and excitement, though not as brilliant and unforgettable as Williams’s best scores (i.e. Star Wars, Harry Potter) or compositions for Spielberg productions, such Jaws, E.T., Close Encounters, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones movies, Schindler’s List (1993), and Saving Private Ryan (1998).  Nonetheless, Abrams has put together a very Spielbergian production that the renowned bearded director would be and is proud of.

Altogether, Abrams has realized a fully immersive piece of summer entertainment that is a suspenseful mystery and action flick blended with a touching coming-of-age tale and part young romance.  It might not reach the astonishing, unforgettable levels that Spielberg’s greatest and earlier works did with audiences, but with (some but not all) comic-book superheroes, stale pirates, vulgar party-boys, and other tired series fizzling on-screen, this film is a welcome, refreshing taste of originality and filmmaking that stimulates the heart, mind, and soul.  Also, although parts of the plot and certain characters are underdeveloped and the ending is perhaps too abrupt, it’s still fairly easy to get caught up in the story and suspend one’s disbelief for high-quality entertainment.  Check out Super 8 in theaters for some old-school fun and excitement that will bring out a sense of wonder and heart that most movies, not just summer blockbusters, nowadays lack or altogether forget/neglect.  It will reign as one of the top three or at least five best of this summer.

* Also, DON’T LEAVE right when the movie ends; wait until a short film (“The Case,” written by the youngsters themselves) appears DURING the credits (nothing is after them, though).  It will surely bring a smile to your face. *

 

Super 8 – 8.5/10

 

 

 

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