Super 8: The Super Combo Delivers Best of the Year

Rating: 10/10 (17 June 2011)

One is a legend in the movie industry, the other is the current hot ticket with a winning streak not seen in a long, long time. Sometimes when teams like this are paired up, the expectations can be unbearable and completely fantastical, but J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg are not ones to break under the pressure of expectations. The stage was set perfectly for them and they delivered brilliantly with an homage to each other's previous works and the simple storytelling styles of film classics gone by.
Super 8 surrounds a group of movie loving misfits who find their town the unwilling center of a government takeover after a terrible and deadly train accident. While filming their own Super 8 movie for a local festival, they bear witness to the escape of something unexplainable, setting up a quest the kids must all rise to complete or watch their friends, families and entire town get erased from the map.
Jeff Goldsmith, the Q&A master behind the popular podcast The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith sent out this tweet after screening this new summer throwback:
"I just saw Super 8. Wanna know the guarded "secret" behind it? Abrams uses plenty of screen time to develop characters you'll care about. (@yogoldsmith)"
As usual, Jeff nailed it on the head. Above and beyond all the other things that done right in the making of this film, it is the writing and careful execution of creating characters that are human, real and inherently lovable. Super 8 brings back the youthful purity of classics like E.T., The Goonies and Stand by Me, something the movie industry has been woefully lacking in the last few years. The story gently reels you in until you almost look at their story as your own, a memory being perfectly played out they way you wish it happened to you.
Then comes the picture perfect casting, where I was compelled instantly by the innocence of Joel Courtney (as Joe Lamb), who is the first young actor since Patrick Fugit in Almost Famous to truly capture that wide- eyed stare into the possible purity of the future. Another factor connecting the audience to Courtney was our shared need to care for and protect the young damsel in distress, Elle Fanning (playing Alice Dainard). Fanning is the epitome of the first girl we all fell in love with in elementary school and she holds the audience in the palm of her hand throughout every scene. Not to be outdone, Riley Griffiths (playing Charles, the young film director), taps into the other side of the coin, the best friend who always wanted to be the hero, but never quite made it to center stage.
Behind the camera, Abrams and Spielberg may have just cemented themselves as the ultimate dynamic duo. Spielberg is still a legend in Hollywood and has incredibly well tuned story senses, but some of his recent efforts (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, War of the Worlds) have been slightly off from his previous greatness. Abrams, on the other hand, is still a relative newcomer to the big screen (only directing Mission Impossible III and Star Trek), but has proved himself a near master of the current form, grown on the sensibilities of a changing and ever adapting crowd. Abrams took this story and crafted it into a beautiful homage to the man sitting right next to him. Super 8 is a throwback to Spielberg's younger days, giving a whole new generation of movie watchers a glimpse into what others grew up with in the late 70's and early 80's. The balance of character development, action sequences and well-paced comedy beats really gives this film a perfect blend for nearly every audience member.
The End of the Page recommendation: Super 8 is a perfectly crafted summer blockbuster. It just doesn't get better, at least not this year.