A super film all round.

Rating: 9/10 (15 August 2011)

Spielburg and Abrams pay tribute by combining elements from other Spielburgian movies such as Jurassic Park, ET, War of the Worlds, Poltergeist and The Goonies amongst others to create Super 8. Revolving around a bunch of teenagers, 12 year old Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) who loves to make old movies and is doing one for a competition (he is the make up/special effects guy). His love of model-making brings him into conflict with his father who is the sheriff of the town Jackson (Kyle Chandler) who wants him to play baseball. Their relationship is already fractured due to the death of Joe's mother in an industrial accident who he was close to. The other two kids who are Joe's friends Charles who is the director (Riley Griffiths) and Cary (Ryan Lee). Charles invites young girl Alice (Elle Fanning) to act as a role in the film. Whilst filming a train crashes near them that was no accident as they find their science teacher in the crash who gives them a warning.
Soon the military turn up and try to keep everything hush hush as the town's dogs and household appliances like microwaves start to go missing. Joel and his friends are caught up in what's going on. Meanwhile a lovely sub-plot develops of a budding romance between Joe and Alice.
The plot itself is nothing new but the combined elements of Spielburg's other movies creates something fascinating and new (though I know not everyone would agree), the special effects of the alien when you see it is truly spectacular and terrifying in a way. Abrams teasingly keeps the alien hidden until right near the very end keeping you uneasy and in suspense. But what makes this film such a winner in my eyes is the fact that these characters are ones you come to care about and the acting is really great. They all in particular Elle Fanning (who acts tremendously in one scene with a performance in a performance blew me away) give performances of commendable charm. The screenplay is very smart in this respect as the friendship between the kids and Joe and his dad and Alice and her's feels very real and give the character's some depth (Alice's dad blames himself for Joe's mum's death as on the day of the accident she covered for his shift in work). It also lend the film some heart, particular in one touching scene where Joe is playing an old video in his room of the times he had with his mum and Alice feels sad as she blames herself in a way for her death. There is also plenty of suspense and tension throughout the film and some great action sequences that are terrifically choreographed.
This is just a super film all round in the end, that though it does contain some plot holes, it didn't detract from entertaining and thrilling me from start to finish. One for the whole family to enjoy and a film I will be adding to my DVD collection in future. I really love this movie.