Review of Super 8 (2011) by Cale B — 18 Feb 2014

Super 8 is a film full of so much heart and produced with such intense passion you can't help but be caught in director J.J. Abrams' magical web of suburban sci-fi, nostalgia and young love. Openly a love letter to the early films of Spielberg (who is credited as producer) it has a similar tone and themes to those of Close Encounters or E.T. and proudly wears these influences on its sleeve. In 1979 small town Ohio young Joe (Joel Courtney) is struggling to come to terms with the sudden death of his mother, and plunges himself into helping his friends make a low-budget zombie movie for a local competition. The gang of boys hit the jackpot when they're able to convince the beautiful Alice (Ellie Fanning) to play the love interest, and promptly sneak out one night to shoot at a desolate train station. The industrious director Charles (Riley Griffiths), sensing an opportunity to add "production value!" to the scene, gets the camera rolling as a vast freight train thunders past - but as a truck drives on to the track it catastrophically derails in fireballs and twisted metal leaving the kids running for their lives. Over the following days the town is overrun with odd supernatural occurrences and disappearances, as well as a heavy military presence, and Joe and his friends become determined to finish their film and discover what the train's mysterious cargo was.

Structured and paced so beautifully Super 8 deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the movies it is derived from. It delivers a wonderful sense of grounded suburban life set against extraterrestrial awe, aided by a magical score from Michael Giacchino channelling his inner John Williams. Constructed with a balance of light and dark, the music captures the emotional mood of every scene perfectly and provides some of the wonderment we all had watching E.T. for the first time.

The young cast are all flawless and slot perfectly into the recreated 70s, with Fanning perhaps the most impressive as the wannabe actress with a troubled home life - she shares some incredibly touching scenes with Chandler as they spot the similarities in their situations. Super 8 is a great example of big Hollywood sentimentality, overtly tugging at your heartstrings in such a broad deliberate manner it's near impossible not to be caught up in the emotion. It hits a perfect balance between these big moments and a plethora of small personal details that truly flesh out the characters and their story.

The sci-fi backdrop is also expertly handled with a slow-burning tension and intrigue that continually ramps up. In fact it frequently slips into fairly tough horror with solid scares and eerie suspense that keep you on your toes, providing a tangible sense of danger for the youngsters. But what makes Super 8 so special is how small and personal it feels. Abrams has made a film that is simultaneously a huge sci-fi thriller but with a soul and a relatable tenderness as its focus. Heroes can come in all shapes and sizes, and occasionally they're sweet-natured 14-year-old boys from Ohio.