Obsequiousmelon found much to love in Super 8

Name of the Film: Super 8

Starring:  Joel Courtney, Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning.                

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.

Or at least so says the official website.  Super 8 is somewhat of a dark horse for this summer.  Strange that, considering it is directed by J. J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg.  But as usual J. J. Abrams projects are shrouded in secrecy and apart from the train wreck and the missing dogs the trailer gives us nothing much to work with.  This meant I went into the cinema slightly nervous of what was coming...

I shouldn't have been, right form the outset I really enjoyed Super 8.  Remember the awesomeness of eighties sci-fi.  Well J. J. Abrams clearly does and he has recaptured the charm from movies like Close Encounters and E.T.  In fact you can feel Spielberg's influence in every frame of the movie from the unconventional household to the great performances from the ‘kids’.

Special mention needs to go to Joel Courtney who carries the film almost in its entirety.  Super 8 opens with the death of his mother and he gives a great sad but slightly numb performance which feels real and at times quite moving especially as he and his dad try to reconnect.

Spielberg might have been the inspiration but this is very much Abrams movie as he doesn’t just copy what Spielberg has done before but ever so slightly twists it making it slightly darker.  Take the alien for example.  It is a sympathetic character in true Spielbergian style yet it is brutal and animalistic and bodies do hit the floor in some numbers.

To stay anymore would be to ruin the experience.  So all I will say is that you should definitely see this film.  It has it’s faults but they are minor and trifling, overall Super 8 is touching, moving, exciting, thoughtful and above all entertaining.  

Like all great monster movies it is about the characters, not the monster and it is all the better for it.  J. J. Abrams clearly loves monster movies and gets them in a way few other working directors now do.

Did I enjoy the film?  Yes. 

Would I recommend it to my friends?  Yes. 

Will I buy it on DVD/Blu Ray?  Yes.

If it was a mate would I let it date my Sister?  Yes.