The Harry Potter kids could learn from this...

Rating: Null/10 (3 November 2011)

This movie has Steven Spielberg written all over it. The camera angles, the set-ups, the kids' acting, the baseball bat being thumped on the table, the electricity cables, the era, the adults, the bikes, the alien, the gang of kids... I could go on.
J. J. Abrams has crafted an homage to American popular cinema of the late 70s and early 80s. Yet it's no pastiche. The pace, the relationships between the kids and tight direction and editing make this a very enjoyable film in its own right. I loved it, and so did my kids.
For me the best things about this movie are the young kids in it. Their talents are amazing. There's no way that these kids are in front of a camera, acting. They're real live people and they never falter. The scene where Elle Fanning tries her acting skills at the impromptu railway shoot is just stunning. In fact, when I recently saw the final Harry Potter film again I was struck by how wooden the three main characters are. They just can't do it. As a Brit I would go as far as to say that the large majority of British movies that have kids in them are usually very lame in comparison to American movies. We just don't know how to direct kids here. There have been notable exceptions of course, but generally we suck.
Super 8 is predictable and very mainstream in its conception. But it's popular film making at it's very best and keeps you entertained from start to finish.
I strongly recommend it to those wanting to see a good family action movie.