Ever since I was a young lad, dressing up as Batman and Sonic the hedgehog, I’ve wanted to be a film director. I’d always pretend I’m making movies with my friends about superheroes, aliens, monsters, and anything else I could think of. The stories would always be these crazy mysteries that would have to be solve before the bad guy got away. That crazy dream of mine has yet to leave, and I hope it stays with me for the years to come. That was the main attraction for me to a movie like Super 8. Its a story about a bunch of kids, with the same dreams as yours truly, trying to make an awesome monster flick.
The fact that the movie was set in Ohio, my home state, was just icing on the cake. The only difference between them and myself was I never witnessed an epic train crash, or watched a mysterious creature escape from said train crash. Super 8 is the latest film from the talented writer/director J.J. Abrams, and its executive produced by the man who heavily influenced this film: Steven Spielberg. When I first heard about Super 8, I couldn’t help but be excited. The movie had so many great elements to it when it was first mentioned.
Its an original movie, its written and directed by Abrams, its based on the sci-fi flicks of the 80s, mainly Spielbergs work, and the whole movie’s plot was a mystery until its release. As I mentioned, the plot of the movie focuses around this group of young film makers whom are trying to make a zombie flick for a Cleveland film festival. Little did they know, The kids would end up heavily involved in a mystery plot that is a lot like the monster movies they probably make. I don’t want to tell you anymore plot details. This one of those movies you should see without knowing anything besides what I’ve told you now.
I will say this though, a lot of people are making comparisons between this movie and E.T. I do agree that they share a few things, but this movie reminded me more of The Goonies meets Cloverfield. Abrams, who directed my favorite remake/reboot behind the Nolan Batman movies, Star Trek, made one hell of an awesome summer movie here. The story being told was very interesting, and kept me at the edge of my seat. Having said that, this movie does have its flaws. For example, This film has two different stories being told. One is a touching movie about a group of kids, and the other is a terrifying monster mystery.
However, because this film is so fun and well made, you can’t notice the flaws unless you really wanted to find them. One thing that wasn’t flawed, was each and everyone of the performances. I can honestly say I couldn’t find a single bad performance. I loved the group of kids they got for this movie. They were all hilarious, and made the movie so much better then it would have been without them. The best of the bunch was Elle Fanning, whom is Dakota Fanning’s little sister. I guess great acting runs in the family. She truly did a great Job, even in the parts were her character was acting for the monster movie.
I’ve only seen her in this one movie, so I don’t know how good she truly is, but I can see her having a very bright future in the movie business. The special effects and action sequences were all amazing, or Mint as Charles would say. The whole train crash at the very beginning was probably the best Train crash I’ve ever seen in a movie, but i would say it last a little bit longer then it should have. The creature looked pretty awesome as well. I can’t tell you much more then that, but i think you will like what you see.
However, his nose looked alot like a slice of tomato. Not the color at all, but just the shape. On that note, I gotta say I really enjoyed Super 8. Actually, this has been a pretty great summer at the movies so far. There were a few disappointments, I’m looking at you Hangover Part II, but this summer movie season has been pretty awesome so far. Lets hope it gets so much better next weekend when Green Lantern comes out!
I give Super 8 4.5 spools of Super 8 film out of 5
(This review was written by Richard L. Purnell from Channel23hahaha on Youtube)