Review #186: 'Super 8' (2011)

Cor blimey! Spielberg's in box must be filling up incredibly with spunk stained love letters of late. This offering from J. J. Abrams (also produced by the bearded Jew of populist cinema), is a homage to the early, great movies such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Jaws (1975), and particularly E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Whilst I would usually go into a tirade about the references to Spielberg, I just am unable to do it with this often charming film. It displays the best elements of these earlier, very iconic offerings.

Super 8 focuses on a bunch of kids who are making their very own zombie film. The film is set in 1979 (proper Spielbergian suburban environment), hence the use of super 8 film instead of the later video. One late night the gang go out at midnight to film a scene. On this night a train is hit by a car and they capture this on film after the camera is knocked down in the action of fleeing. What they later discover, is that the film captured something non-human climbing from the wreckage. The Air Force come into town after this occurrence, and so begins a series of strange events: People and dogs disappearing; electrical and motorised goods also disappearing. I am going to point out one thing that bugged me (and it happened at the start it kinda stayed with me). At the crash site, one of the kids, Joe (Joel Courtney), picks up an unidentified object, that Charles (Riley Griffiths) comments on as resembling a Rubik's cube. Pedantic alert!!! Whilst the Rubik's cube was invented in 1974, it was not patented in the US of A until 1980!

The child performances are actually rather good too. Particularly Elle Fanning, who plays Alice, and brings the film a much needed emotional edge. She is second to Joe, who before the film begins lost his mother in a milling accident. Alice's father is the local drunk and trouble maker.

I was expecting not to like this film so much, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has all of it's military and authoritative nuances that are lifted directly from the 1970's aesthetic of Spielberg, it also has his knack for basic, yet interesting familial surroundings. I was thinking that it was a stylistic decision to not show the alien/monster so much, but on seeing it, I think it was a case of, like the monster in Cloverfield (2008), it's just a bit shit.


Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Marc Ivamy