Watch 'Super 8' with your inner 12-year-old
Published on Wed, Nov 16, 2011 by Bob ConnallyRead More Arts & Entertainment
"Super 8"
(PG-13, Avail. 11/22)
For me the year from 12 to 13 was, to be honest, horrible. Kids aren't any more mature than they were but the insults are crueler. Why then would anyone feel nostalgic enough to make a movie about it? That's the question that lingered for me going in to "Super 8."
A few months before the end of the school year, middle schooler Joe Lamb (newcomer Joel Courtney) lost his mother in a tragic accident. As the summer of 1979 begins, Joe and his father, Deputy Jackson Lamb (Kyle Chandler) are struggling. Jackson believes that getting out of their little town of Lillian, Ohio, might be just what they need. But Joe is determined to help his best friend Charles (Riley Griffiths, another newcomer) finish his zombie movie. The rest of their friends, Preston (Zach Mills), Cary (Ryan Lee), and Martin (Gabriel Basso, "The Big C") round out the cast and crew. That is until Charles decides to add an emotional element to his script in the form of a girl (Elle Fanning).
As they film the movie's key scene on the town's railroad platform, a passing locomotive (which Charles feels will make for terrific "production value") collides with a pickup truck, causing a disaster that sends the kids running for their lives. A warning from a survivor convinces them to scatter just as the United States Air Force arrives on the scene. Joe and his friends know that something disturbing is afoot, and soon the town of Lillian realizes it too.
Written and directed by J.J. Abrams, "Super 8" is a loving ode to its own producer Steven Spielberg, without coming off as fanboy worship (mostly). It works so well because the nostalgia feels genuine. It managed to do what I didn't believe possible. It made the thought of being twelve years old not sound so terrible.
Abrams keeps the focus on the emotion and the characters, getting the most from his young performers, two of whom were completely inexperienced. You'd never know that Joel Courtney had never acted on screen before and he's the film's lead. Fanning meanwhile displays a true talent that is astounding, considering she's merely thirteen years old.
For the most part the visual effects don't particularly look like visual effects, which is exactly as it should be. Abrams' movie is about the love of filmmaking and about trying to make things as real as possible.
It's a movie that will bring out your inner 12-year-old. You'll laugh, be entertained, be moved, and ultimately be amazed by the sense of magic that "Super 8" possesses.
Yes, it does have some flaws. A few moments take their Spielbergian inspiration a bit too far and the ending takes a bit too long. But even the flaws somehow seem to belong there. This is, after all, the story of kids making a Super 8 horror film. And as the film faded to black I found myself doing something I almost never do. I was wishing that it wasn't over yet. 9/10.
(PG-13, Avail. 11/22)
For me the year from 12 to 13 was, to be honest, horrible. Kids aren't any more mature than they were but the insults are crueler. Why then would anyone feel nostalgic enough to make a movie about it? That's the question that lingered for me going in to "Super 8."
A few months before the end of the school year, middle schooler Joe Lamb (newcomer Joel Courtney) lost his mother in a tragic accident. As the summer of 1979 begins, Joe and his father, Deputy Jackson Lamb (Kyle Chandler) are struggling. Jackson believes that getting out of their little town of Lillian, Ohio, might be just what they need. But Joe is determined to help his best friend Charles (Riley Griffiths, another newcomer) finish his zombie movie. The rest of their friends, Preston (Zach Mills), Cary (Ryan Lee), and Martin (Gabriel Basso, "The Big C") round out the cast and crew. That is until Charles decides to add an emotional element to his script in the form of a girl (Elle Fanning).
As they film the movie's key scene on the town's railroad platform, a passing locomotive (which Charles feels will make for terrific "production value") collides with a pickup truck, causing a disaster that sends the kids running for their lives. A warning from a survivor convinces them to scatter just as the United States Air Force arrives on the scene. Joe and his friends know that something disturbing is afoot, and soon the town of Lillian realizes it too.
Written and directed by J.J. Abrams, "Super 8" is a loving ode to its own producer Steven Spielberg, without coming off as fanboy worship (mostly). It works so well because the nostalgia feels genuine. It managed to do what I didn't believe possible. It made the thought of being twelve years old not sound so terrible.
Abrams keeps the focus on the emotion and the characters, getting the most from his young performers, two of whom were completely inexperienced. You'd never know that Joel Courtney had never acted on screen before and he's the film's lead. Fanning meanwhile displays a true talent that is astounding, considering she's merely thirteen years old.
For the most part the visual effects don't particularly look like visual effects, which is exactly as it should be. Abrams' movie is about the love of filmmaking and about trying to make things as real as possible.
It's a movie that will bring out your inner 12-year-old. You'll laugh, be entertained, be moved, and ultimately be amazed by the sense of magic that "Super 8" possesses.
Yes, it does have some flaws. A few moments take their Spielbergian inspiration a bit too far and the ending takes a bit too long. But even the flaws somehow seem to belong there. This is, after all, the story of kids making a Super 8 horror film. And as the film faded to black I found myself doing something I almost never do. I was wishing that it wasn't over yet. 9/10.
blog comments powered by Disqus
