Super 8 (2011) Dir. by J.J. Abrams
After witnessing a mysterious train crash, a group of friends in the summer of 1979 begin noticing strange happenings going around in their small town, and begin to investigate into the creepy phenomenon.
If you ask me... there is no director out there today who does as well of a job building up a movie as Abrams. The fact that he can announce a movie a year early, and hide EVERY little detail until the night of its release is unbelievable. According to www.complex.com there are few theories behind this.
1. Abrams is well trained in the Dark Arts
2. In Super 8's case, Spielberg threatened to bring back the aliens for another Indiana Jones movie.
3. Abrams sold his soul to the devil after co-writing "Gone Fishin'"
4. Ball Gags instead of Gag orders
5. The Smoke Monster from "Lost" is on his payroll.
6. All joking aside. He will sue the crap out of you if you say a word.
The little things he manages to put in to the movies are quite cool as well. Utilizing the timeline he is able to throw nods towards his films from growing up, and he does it with a brilliant mind. He has to be one of my favorite directors out there.
The cast of this film is so well casted, but I think the one who absolutely steals the show is Elle Fanning. I am pretty sure the Fanning family is actually just a farm where they grow great actors. She is able to keep the youth of her character while acting like a girl who is mature for her age. She walks the line beautifully and it helps drive the story. All of the boys were awesome and hilarious. Such a diverse group of characters that fit together so well.
This film brought youth back to me. It reminded me of The Goonies, E.T., a touch of Cloverfield, and Stand by Me. So it goes without saying that Spielberg's presence was absolutely felt, and it was basically in honor of films from his youth. It was so great to see a good action movie that could have a ridiculous storyline, and take it so serious. The special effects were near flawless, and the score is what really drove this home for me. It wasn't really a horror film, but when you take in the music, it really feels that way. They took the silent approach that a lot of 70's and 80's films used. Building tension using well timed silence rather than always having a score. It was perfect because you still couldn't tell when something was going to happen, and when it did it made you jump like crazy. It is a film I will talk about for many years, and I look forward to seeing more from Mr. Abrams. Super 8was an amazing film, and I can't stop thinking about it. I plan on seeing it again as soon as I can. I'm sure there are plenty of things from Abrams that I didn't catch in there, like his Slusho Drinks. I love that these drinks have made it in to almost all of the stuff that Abrams works on, and that the product has its own fake back story and website. We will see. It isn't very often, I do this but here they are:
Entertainment Value: 10/10 Hand rolled M80's
Cinematic Value: 10/10 Hand rolled M80's
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Question for my readers.
Don't read if you don't want to know certain things.
Is it me or does the creature in Super 8 look like a small almost exact replica of the creature from Cloverfield. Especially in the facial features. It would not surprise me in the least if this was an "unspoken" prequel to the Cloverfield movies, and as it goes forward I will definitely look to see if there is anything to tie it to. Let me know your thoughts. Google images for Cloverfield monster and tell me they don't look alike.
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