A Little Bit Of Everything

Rating: 8/10 (15 July 2018)

Despite being a fan of J.J. Abrams and what he does with his Bad Robot productions, I'll be the first to say it: At its core, "Super 8" is J.J.'s homage to his childhood cloaked in the storytelling techniques of Steve Spielberg. However, because JJ imparts so much of his own flare and personal charisma into the film, it ends up mostly transcending its "copycat" label and producing a result that is quite enjoyable on a number of fronts.
For a basic plot summary, "Super 8" focuses on Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), a young teen growing up in the 1970s who loves making movies with his Super-8 camera and building miniature models. When viewers are introduced to Joe, he has just lost his mother in a factory accident, and father Jackson (Kyle Chandler) struggles to be a single father while also serving as town police deputy. While filming a movie scene with his buddies, and notably crush Alice (Elle Fanning), Joe witnesses a train derailment in which some sort of creature is released and the military intervenes. With the film in Joe's camera being the only evidence of the incident, "Super 8" unspools into a race against the clock both for the military (to destroy the evidence) and Joe's crew (to figure out just what exactly is going on).
I think the hallmark of "Super 8" is that it's a film that has a little bit of everything. It features tremendous action/adventure sequences, emotional family/character drama, and a mystery plot that keeps things moving forward. There is not one wasted scene in the entire film. Though it clocks in at about 2 hours, it doesn't feel "that long" because the action is always moving forward (a trait of Abrams films).
The use of the child actors in the movie are also spectacular. They carry long (and most) stretches of the film with absolutely no qualms or drop in performances that adults may have given. In a way, JJ was kind of ahead of the curve here on the "kids riding bikes around the neighborhood" type film that "It" & "Stranger Things" would later bring firmly back into fashion.
Oddly enough, the only reason I can't give "Super 8" an even higher ranking is a big part of the reason why it gets the 8 stars to begin with: The film is so slick and filled with relentless energy that I felt, at times, it doesn't take quite enough time to stop and savor the character moments (the highlight of the film by quite a bit). This is especially apparent in the ending, which should be even more touching than what ends up transpiring. This isn't a huge fault, but I think stems from the film coming from a Spielberg/nostalgia place instead of one of complete originality.
Overall, though, "Super 8" is a fun and compelling film that can be enjoyed by a wide swath of audiences. No one will ever be bored watching the film, and it dips into enough genres to find some nerve in every viewer. Not quite at the top of my "favorites of all-time" list, but certainly in the tier right below it.