Movie Review: SUPER 8 - one of the best films of the year
Super 8 was my number one most anticipated movie of the summer of 2011. The reason why, is because it’s an original idea that I pretty much knew nothing about before seeing it. Films like Thor, Captain America, Cowboys & Aliens and Harry Potter drop down on the list because I pretty much already know what I’m getting myself into. Sure, I’m extremely excited about seeing them, but there’s no real surprises. With Super 8, even if you’ve watched all the trailers and all the film clips you have no idea what is planned for you, and when you go to the theater to watch it I have a feeling you’ll be blown away with pure movie bliss.
One of the coolest things about Super 8 was seeing that classic Amblin logo appear on the screen, and then have the movie deliver that classic Amblin magic. This movie is hands down my favorite movie of the year so far. I absolutely loved it, and even though I’ve seen it I’m already excited to go out and watch it again. As you already know the movie was made as a tribute to the old school fun and exciting Steven Spielberg directed films of the 70’s and 80’s, and it awesomely succeeds in that. The film has a certain charismatically entrancing touch to it that I haven’t seen in a film in a long time. The setting, the music, the way the film was shot was just very familiar, and it brought me back to that place of being a kid and reminded me of the things I did when growing up. I did the same exact kind of stuff as those kids did in the movie. It reminded me of the films I grew up watching, and it gave me a sense of wonder and excitement that I haven’t felt in a long time. The movie is like an action-packed version of The Goonies mixed with the sci-fi elements from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
There is a lot of heart behind this film and the story, and there were a few moments where I couldn’t help but get a emotional. Yes, I got teary eyed a couple times. Don’t judge me, sometimes movies hit my emotional cords, and this is one of the films that did it. J.J. Abrams did an incredible job telling a great story on film.
The movie had a perfect cast of actors that included Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard, and Noah Emmerich who all did a great job in their roles, but it was the kids in the film that made this movie so special and took it to the level of greatness. The main character Joel Courtney was absolutely fantastic, Elle Fanning had some great scenes as well. Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee and Gabriel Basso were all perfectly cast, these young actors made you believe what was happening in the film was real. All the kid characters had great likable personalities, just like in The Goonies, but my favorite character was Cary, played by Lee who was the hilarious comic relief in the film who had a problem with fire.
There are a lot of very cool fun surprises in the film, and there are some great epic scenes that were incredibly exciting to watch. The main train crash scene in the film absolutely blew me away. The studio has released a ton of footage from this scene, but you haven’t seen anything yet, there’s so much more to it. This may be a sci-fi film, but it’s a sci-fi film built around a powerful and touching story about love and loss. I loved watching this story unfold on the big screen, and I loved the fact I had no idea what was going to happen next. I appreciated the surprises, and the fact that Abrams didn’t spoil anything about this movie in any that was released. I’ve decided to stick with that theme, and as you can tell I kept this review 100% spoiler free.
I strongly recommend this movie to you, and I urge you to go see when it hits theaters on June 10th. You won’t be disappointed.