The thing that excited me the most about this movie is the fact that J.J Abram is the director and one of the producers... I've been a fan of his work since I saw the movie Cloverfield (one of my favorites) back in 2002 and the latest and awesome Star Trek (2009)... I somehow convinced myself that Super 8 is going to be one massive disaster movie, just like Cloverfield... Well, I thought wrong... It's not actually a full disaster movie... It's a classic family entertainment...
THE STORY
In the summer of 1979, while making a super 8 movie, a group of school kids - Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), Alice (Elle Fanning), Charles, Preston, Martin and Tom, witnessed a horrifying train crash near a small town in Ohio... The train was a property of the U.S Air Force where it was carrying a top secret and highly dangerous cargo... After the train crash, mysterious disappearances and strange events started to happen, forcing a local deputy sheriff, who is also Joe's father, to investigate and reveal the truth...
THE POSITIVE SIDE
The Kids
The charm of this movie is brought out by the child actors who are also among the main casts... Their presence toned down the horror factor and seriousness of the movie because they are all damn funny and thus reassuring the audience that Super 8 is not a total disaster movie but instead, like I said before, it's a classic movie made mostly for family entertainment...
Kudos to Elle Fanning, sister to the famous Dakota Fanning for the effective acting... She successfully portrayed her emotions well according to the scenes... I shall say she's pretty talented, like her sister... Joel Courtney also did a great job as the lead where he managed to carry his role as a rebellious yet soft-hearted teenager...
The Classic Element
The reason for me repeatedly saying that this movie is a classic is just not because of the time and place setting, props and costume... Instead, it is also because of how the movie is made... The pace, the shots, the scenes, the story... They all reminded me of the movie E.T... This is most probably because of the influence from Steven Spielberg, who is one of the producers for Super 8... Rather than focusing on the destruction, the movie is more towards the emotional side - the strengthening of bonds between children and parents, sending the poor mistreated alien home and a bit of some puppy love moments...
Some people, especially the young ones who are so used to modern styles of movies, might disagree with me when I say that the classic element is a plus... I'm pretty sure that many of the audience think that the movie's good but it seemed to lack something...
THE NEGATIVE SIDE
"We Expected More"
Yes, I repeat, most audience might be satisfied with the movie but they would also agree that it lacks something... That something would be the massive destruction caused by modern warfare... The movie lacks the thrills and excitement of modern disaster movies... Younger audience must be expecting that the movie would be more like Cloverfield or Battle: Los Angeles - full with destruction and chaos... They would have expected that the alien would be bigger and meaner, destroying most parts of the small town during its rampage and ended up being blown up into pieces by the military using awesome fire power - thus leading to a satisfying amount of CGI effects...
But no, there was no massive destruction... No jets dropping tones of bombs onto the alien... No fire breathing monsters...
ALL IN ALL
If u haven't seen Super 8 and planning to watch it over the weekend, dont expect it to be as destructive as Godzilla, Cloverfield or Battle: Los Angeles... Rather, u should expect it to be more like the movie E.T - touching, emotional and funny... Suitable to be watched with the whole family~
3 out 5 stars...
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