J. J Abrams is one of Hollywood’s most talented filmmakers. After helping reboot the STAR TREK film series with the 2009 hit film, Abrams is given complete creative license to tell whatever story he desires. Here is where “Super 8” comes into the picture. Abrams played most of his cards pretty close to the chest by showing vague trailers and the mass marketing push of his and Steven Spielberg’s name on the posters. The question that stands now: “Did Abrams and crew deliver another winner?”
For the most part, yes. That said the film isn’t entirely devoid of flaws. The story is about a group of childhood friends making a small home movie in 1979. While filming, they happen upon a train accident that slowly unravels to a county-wide crisis that threatens the small town and the “something” that was being transported on that train. The story of the kids was a tried and true formula of kids happening upon something bigger than the both of them. The science fiction element of the picture is a location for a boy’s coming of age tale, and this is the mistake that Abrams plays with the audience. Anybody expecting a creature feature will be disappointed, but will be pleasantly surprised by the coming-of-age story. The kids are, front and center, the stars of the picture and why the film works very well. The story with the kids play on those nostalgic moments when you made home movies. The film is a love song to all film geeks about how much fun it was to make movies and get caught up in the dream of the movies.
What ultimately doesn’t work about the film is the few beats that it decides to take in act two. What story choices Abrams made in that middle section seem a bit out of place with the combination of the character’s choices and the whole military aspect to the film. It seems that Abrams was drawing a bit too much from his inspirations and the films he clearly is trying to emulate. It’s a blow that picks back up by the third act, and recovers from. This storypoint is my only complaint with the film.
This is clearly just Abrams’ picture. The problem with the picture comes with how it’s being pushed as a monster film to the mainstream. It’s not the film audiences are expecting, but it’s also not going to be the one they want to walk out with on their minds. That said, for what it is, it’s a great send-up of the 80’s film from yesteryear. The cast works amazingly well and the group is clearly what they film needed to center on more. Audiences will be left with a film that is that perfect middle ground where children will like it, but adults will be able to relate to it. This isn’t a science fiction film, this is a boy’s coming of age tale that happens to have a creature in it. Not a perfect film, but a deep and ambitious film at that.
7 of 10
For the most part, yes. That said the film isn’t entirely devoid of flaws. The story is about a group of childhood friends making a small home movie in 1979. While filming, they happen upon a train accident that slowly unravels to a county-wide crisis that threatens the small town and the “something” that was being transported on that train. The story of the kids was a tried and true formula of kids happening upon something bigger than the both of them. The science fiction element of the picture is a location for a boy’s coming of age tale, and this is the mistake that Abrams plays with the audience. Anybody expecting a creature feature will be disappointed, but will be pleasantly surprised by the coming-of-age story. The kids are, front and center, the stars of the picture and why the film works very well. The story with the kids play on those nostalgic moments when you made home movies. The film is a love song to all film geeks about how much fun it was to make movies and get caught up in the dream of the movies.
What ultimately doesn’t work about the film is the few beats that it decides to take in act two. What story choices Abrams made in that middle section seem a bit out of place with the combination of the character’s choices and the whole military aspect to the film. It seems that Abrams was drawing a bit too much from his inspirations and the films he clearly is trying to emulate. It’s a blow that picks back up by the third act, and recovers from. This storypoint is my only complaint with the film.
This is clearly just Abrams’ picture. The problem with the picture comes with how it’s being pushed as a monster film to the mainstream. It’s not the film audiences are expecting, but it’s also not going to be the one they want to walk out with on their minds. That said, for what it is, it’s a great send-up of the 80’s film from yesteryear. The cast works amazingly well and the group is clearly what they film needed to center on more. Audiences will be left with a film that is that perfect middle ground where children will like it, but adults will be able to relate to it. This isn’t a science fiction film, this is a boy’s coming of age tale that happens to have a creature in it. Not a perfect film, but a deep and ambitious film at that.
7 of 10
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