Directed by:
J.J. AbramsScreenplay:
J.J. AbramsCinematography:
Larry FongComposer:
Michael GiacchinoCast:
Joel Courtney, Kyle Chandler, Jessica Tuck, Elle Fanning, Ron Eldard, Noah Emmerich, Gabriel Basso, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills, AJ Michalka, Riley Griffiths (more)VOD (5)
Plots(1)
In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth - something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined. (Paramount Pictures)
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Reviews (14)
This film is so simple that it’s not even nice. Yes, Abrams knows how to ignite the protagonists, himself, and even the viewer. Yes, it is a sincere film that won't offend anyone. But everything is a cliché worn a hundred times over that often leaves you astonished, unfortunately not in a completely positive sense. It is perhaps a slightly unconventional film about aliens (from the perspective of the predominantly child main characters), but that doesn't make it valuable. But it can’t be denied that Abrams knows how to direct actors, the chemistry between the main characters is excellent. There's no need to dissect the visuals, that is already clear, but having the feeling that for 112 minutes I am essentially watching a children's film, that probably wasn't the intention (family entertainment). A quite hesitant film. The trailer was probably about 200 percent better.
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Super 8, whose first teaser was released a year before the premiere, is an ambitious project that recycles all of the clichés of the genre and the period. J.J. Abrams is brilliant in the technical aspects, but the scope of his imagination and sense of consistency are not enough to create an equally brilliant script. This is evidenced by the film’s biggest shortcoming – the sloppy, stupid ending. Super 8 is not boring, and it has a nice 1980s atmosphere and skillful child actors, but it lacks suspense and surprises. It’s a wannabe horror (and let’s be frank – unnecessary) version of E.T., which an older viewer will watch without much excitement, while the contemporary teen audience, raised on Lord of the Rings, The Matrix and Twilight, won’t find anything of interest in it. Abrams should have paid homage to a great artist who inspired him to become a film enthusiast in the form of a letter instead of keeping us in anticipation of a remarkable film event for a whole year, in vain.
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The first half was definitely a lot stronger, because by the second half I was having trouble keeping my attention at times. In fact, I started to get slightly lost in the fight scenes and I wasn’t really feeling any suspense. I'm definitely not disappointed though. You can smell good old Spielberg and it maintains its grandeur. The child cast in particular was excellent. Elle Fanning has grown up and is already a great actress. A weaker 4 stars.
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Both Abrams and Spielberg used 8mm cameras to preserve their first forays into filmmaking for future generations. It’s up to you whether you appreciate or condemn the fact that Super 8 raises questions as to which of them actually directed the film. The sci-fi plot isn’t entirely meaningless, but it essentially serves as a MacGuffin (symbolically entering the story together with a train) that aids the development of the characters and the relationships between them. The increasingly tense situations accelerate the process of growing up, which happens in relation to the protagonist’s parents. Joe has to accept the death of one of them and the authority of the other, who comes to understand that he can leave some responsibility to his son (and thus also let up on his excessive strictness). As in early Spielberg films with adolescents, basically ordinary characters become heroes when coming face to face with an extraordinary adventure. Super 8 also references films such as The Sugarland Express, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial by situating the plot in a small American town and through its interest in a family whose cohesiveness is a crucial condition for a happy ending. Abrams managed to seamlessly combine a 1970s family drama with action for the 21st century, though he doesn’t show the same skill in directing the dialogue scenes as he does in the dynamic action sequences, when it doesn’t matter at all that a bunch of kids are running away from an unknown danger. More than other films, Super 8 will please those who love movies, and not necessarily only Spielberg’s films. It humorously draws attention to the make-believe of film, especially during the good forty-minute introduction, an enchanting tribute to all amateur filmmakers (it’s just fake blood). But most of the scenes are pervaded by an amusing nostalgia, including making light of certain “rules” in earlier films of the same type (“Since when is this guy the boss?”). It’s Joe, the film’s protagonist, who is in charge of the special effects and masks in the micro-crew. He passes off reality as more attractive, offering what life itself doesn’t provide. Which, as we well know, is what movies do. Of course, it’s not a bad thing to be reminded of this from time to time by the people who make the movies. 80%
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Abrams carried this baby in his head for a really long time and his care is evident throughout picture. In story terms, this is a typical King movie (J.J. is a big fan) with some references to Spielberg’s most famous sci-fi. Excellent casting of the kid parts, gallons of emotion, perfect music by Giacchino, suspense, entertainment and a feeling that once upon a time everything was somehow better and slower moving.
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