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| Super 8 |
| Written by Paul Gagne | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, 09 June 2011 19:19 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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While most movies and TV shows tend to depict the 70’s as debaucherous and drug-soaked, for most of the then-tweens it was a much more innocent time. There was no Facebook, no cell phones, no video game consoles and iPods to isolate yourself with, no instant access to everything and anything. Joe Lamb and his friends occupy their time making a super-8 film for a contest. What sounds geeky actually bonds the friends together, and gets them spending time in the outdoors and stretches their creative and problem-solving skills.
Until they witness, in all too close-up reality, a horrendous train crash that releases a dangerous entity and all Hell breaks loose in their sleepy Ohio town.
And no, I’m not going to tell you what super-8 means.
I also really liked Elle Fanning as Alice Dainard, a young women Charles brings into the production because he’s crushing on her, and not because he has any idea of the ingénue she turns out to be. She wows the boys during a rehearsal, mere seconds before the train crash. During the ensuing events she develops a relationship with Joe, since the two of them are inextricably linked through their fathers, and the role Alice’s played in the tragic death of Joe’s mom.
Meanwhile, of course, there is a creature rampaging through the town. I don’t think that’s much of a spoiler. Sure, JJ Abrams likes to create drama with his secrecy policy on his movies, but really, who saw even the very first teaser trailer and didn’t know this is a creature film? If that describes you, then sorry for the spoiler. Also, Darth Vader is Luke’s Father and Kevin Spacey is Keyser Soze. You’re welcome.
So, why is the creature stalking around? What does it want, what are its machinations, what is its disposition (both I terms of demeanor and outcome)?
Obviously a lot of the film is concerned with the aforementioned spectacle. The big train crash, then all of the shenanigans the monster gets up to. One can’t help but compare this to a Michael Bay production. The big difference being, of course, that JJ actually cares about story, and characters, as telegraphed by a conversation Joe and Charles have towards the beginning of the film.
The film starts to get a bit silly towards the end, eschewing the verisimilitude of characterizations it strives for early on in favor of tired action film tropes, but by that point Joe and the crew have earned your sympathy, so you won’t mind so much. I kind of wish Super 8 had been more intimate, like Gareth Edwards’s Monsters, but I think at this point JJ’s britches are a little too big to make a small movie.
A quick piece of trivia: Ryan Lee, who plays the explosives-obsessed Cary, is brother to Lauren Lee, star of several of Emily Hagins’s films. And no, I’m not telling you who she is, either. Jesus, learn to Google for crap’s sake.
SPOILER:
(Seriously. Big spoiler)
The scene between Joe and the creature, when they are face to face, was my favorite moment of the film. Even though it was genetically-engineered to tug at my strings, I loved it anyway. The creature’s face was shockingly human in countenance, and was clearly designed as a personification of human nature. How we can be fundamentally good, but still lash out and hurt people when angry and frightened, and how ultimately we all just want to go home.
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| Last Updated on Monday, 20 June 2011 18:55 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
