A Powerhouse Movie That Doesn't Avoid Tenderness

Rating: 7/10 (18 December 2011)

Though this film rings of Spielberg in action - fantasy mixed with the magic of kids' imagination and camaraderie - SUPER 8 is a very entertaining film. It is a movie within a movie - a nice twist on reality versus illusion - and the writer/director JJ Abrams has the keen idea of show the intended movie made by the kids at the end of the film during the credits. it works very well.
The story involves Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) and a group of youngsters getting together to make a super 8 film of their own writing and acting and production and films: Riley Griffiths (as writer/director Charles), Ryan Lee as the zombie obsessed Cary, Gabriel Basso as Martin, Zach Mills as Preston, and Elle Fanning as Alice Dainerd. As the youngsters struggle with their film we learn of town troubles - such as Joe's dad, policeman Jackson Lamb (Kyle Chandler) and his concern with the town troublemaker Louis Dainerd (Ron Eldard) who is Alice's Dad - until everything changes as while on location at the train stop the youngster's film a bizarre train crash with a truck driven by a wise but somewhat scary science teacher. It becomes evident that there is more to the incident than meets the eye and as the youngsters realize that there is present among them a creature form space the speed of events wallops to a wild climax. In the end the Youngsters are the ones who relate to the possibilities of fantasy being real and the story ends with an uplifting sense of understanding.
Placed in the year 1979 in Ohio the film manages to capture the flavor of the times and the fears of the people (could all this be a Soviet attack?!) to a tee. Joel Courtney is outstanding in his role and the supporting cast is excellent.
Grady Harp