J.J. Abrams does it again!

Rating: 8/10 (8 June 2011)

As you might expect, J. J. Abrams has churned out another exhilarating experience with solid entertainment. Imagine, if you will, a combination of The Goonies + Cloverfield and you will get Super 8, the story of a young boy and his friends that witness a creature escaping a crashed military train while filming with a super 8 camera. As I heard an audience member say after the screening, J. J. Abrams put his fingerprint on this movie, then smeared it all over. The mysterious creature is only glimpsed a handful of times during the first half of the film, and the story will keep you constantly guessing and engaged. With the aid of some fantastic special effects, Super 8 will no doubt be one of the most exciting films of this summer, additionally offering a nostalgic reminder of the times of Spielberg's E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. So the bottom line is: Super 8 is good, and if you're watching it as a J. J. Abrams fan, you're in for a real treat.
But the film is not without its flaws. Within this young cast you can sense a lot of rising stars but that's just it. They're still "rising". It is a common problem to have some amateur acting with kids. The story is not entirely original either. However, these are only minor complaints against the movie. The main issue with Super 8 is that it can't decide what it wants to be. Is it a coming-of-age drama? Is it an alien action film? Is it horror mystery? Alien and horror and mystery genres can mix quite nicely, but unfortunately coming-of-age not so much. One aspect of the film focuses on the adventure of kids in a rural town while another focuses on a violently rampaging alien. The result is a schizophrenic jumble of genres that has you shifting uncomfortably in your seat at the idea of kids watching certain scenes. For this reason, I STRONGLY caution adults taking their kids to see this movie. Super 8 had more blood, cursing, and blatant drug references than any movie I have seen in a while. IT's a bit like walking into Kick-ass expecting a child's movie. In my honest opinion Super 8 should have been rated R, but Abrams was careful when pushing the limits of PG-13 rules. Indeed, this movie was a wonderful throwback to the days of E.T., but perhaps should only be viewed by those who watched E.T. when it came out. Don't forget that the Abrams touch is violent, as well as mysterious! 8/10