A film with a mighty big heart, and every inch in the right place. A modern classic in the making and amongst the year's best.

Rating: Null/10 (24 August 2011)

As summer marches on and the remakes, reboots and adaptations continue to fill our silver screens, we are treated to the occasional little gem and this year's big-budget yet kind hearted feature comes in the form of J.J. Abrams' Super 8.
Set in the small fictitious town of Lillian, Ohio, in 1979, Super 8 follows Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) and his group of friends making a zombie film on a Super 8 camera. After convincing Alice (Elle Fanning) to get involved with the project, the group sets off to continue movie-making. During a shoot, a devastating train crash occurs, leaving mountains of burning rubble and debris. Suddenly something unexplainable bursts from the fiery ruins and sets its heart on causing havoc to the town. The group decides to pursue this strange mystery villain and aims to save Lillian from this threat.
Super 8 mixes 80s sci-fi classics E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Super 8 mixes sci-fi classics E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Many have compared this picture to film director and producer Steven Spielberg's earlier works including E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and other 80s escapist pictures such as The Goonies (1985). Some critics also have accused Super 8 of being a carbon-copy of Spielberg's films.
Granted there are similarities between this picture and some of the above, but Super 8 should be compared to actor, director, producer, writer Rob Reiner's masterpiece Stand By Me (1986) – although the film lacks any Sci-Fi element, Super 8 is about friendship, about life and learning through experience; the group of boys set out to find a body and consequently find themselves along the way.
The film's life lives with its characters. The public follows the group of children throughout and finds comfort in their presence. As with many films where children lead, the group is slightly type-cast (the fat one, the geeky one, the brave one, the mad one and so on), but the type-casting and formatting ends there. Thankfully Abrams knows the importance of character and development. Each member of the group is rounded, dimensional and interesting, as well as being frequently funny and effortlessly charming. Director JJ Abrams' fantastic script gives the group believable and naturalistic dialogue, so yes the kids do swear, quite a bit actually but that's how youngsters talk.
Super 8 has been dubbed a family film too by some. I'd slightly argue against this – there are certain themes and messages here that are clearly aimed for the family audience: imagination, wonder, exploration and so forth, but there is also a lot of 'adult' material, and I don't just mean the language. A key narrative theme throughout is loss; the film opens with the funeral of Joe's mother and ideas of loss and misplacement are heavily implied throughout – even everyone's dogs run away. The film is also 'quite' scary and violent in places; there's no gore and just a very tiny amount of blood but the first hour is weighted in tension and suspense, something that may either terrify or bore smaller viewers. I would not see any particular harm in letting an under 12 watch it, just maybe not if they are under 8 or 9.
As well as a brilliant group of characters and a cracking script, the film also sports some wonderful cinematography and breath-taking special effects. The train crash is incredible and one of 2011's best CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) sequences - the epic pyrotechnics, flying carriages and deafening sounds make it a stand-out scene in this grand work. What is even better about the CGI is that there is very little of it. After the train, there isn't much more catastrophic action until the picture's climax, but filling that void is easy due to just how good the young actors are. The picture's duration simply flies by.
Every performance is strong with Fanning and Riley Griffiths, who plays Charles Kaznyk (the fat one), being the show-stoppers. The pair bring charisma, skill and productiveness to their roles. Courtney is also great as Joe and does very well with carrying the emotional sequences as well as the escapist elements.
Super 8 is certainly a homage rather than a 'suck-up'; it's a homage to simpler times, better cinema and the sense of awe and magic that swept through youth. If any film is going to embrace and bear-hug your inner child for 112 minutes, it's this. Abrams has crafted some unforgettable characters, a gripping and often tense environment and has breathed life back into retro science-fiction.
Verdict: ●●●●● Read more on www.theupcoming.co.uk