Not Original, but satisfying!

Rating: 7/10 (28 August 2012)

J.J. Abrams' "Super 8" is a film that revolves around a group of children who enjoy filming home-made movies. During one of their scenes, a train crashes in the background and the children are thrown into a mystery that comes crashing along with the freighter. The central themes in this story are friendship and letting go.
In my opinion, the cast of this film (Joel Courtney, Riley Griffiths, Zach Mills, Gabriel Basso, Ryan Lee, and Elle Fanning) couldn't have done a better job. A buzz word that keeps coming to mind when I think of this little gang is chemistry. The chemistry the children have on screen makes the entire plot, no matter how implausible, feel believable. I really had an enjoyable time watching the group interact with each other and there was never a dull moment among the friends. You see the typical bickering and name calling we all were apart of as children, but beyond that you see a lot of great emotion from these characters that feels completely authentic.
Now, the number one knock on this film that I've heard so far is that it is too much like Spielberg's old films. This is a true statement and you probably will get a "Goonies" style vibe, but don't let that take away from this movie at all. If this movie would have came out years ago, we'd be calling it an instant classic, and not because of its effects. I feel like this film gets harshly critiqued because it's not completely original. In my opinion, that was the whole point of the entire process of making "Super 8". Abrams wanted to pay homage to one of his all-time favorite directors, and I can't personally pan this movie because of that fact. Because of the lack of originality we can't rank it above the old greats it's paying tribute to, but is that what makes a film enjoyable? Just because it's not original doesn't mean we should disregard it entirely. This is a great movie for children, if you don't mind a few curse words here and there, and adults alike. For children, I think this movie is a great way to bring some of the old film style of Spielberg to their eyes, without having to revert back to movies like "ET", that can be considered outdated visually.
All in all this is a fun, exciting film that had me interested and on the edge of my seat the entire ride. If originality is a huge factor for you, I wouldn't recommend this film but if you're just out to see a good flick that stars some pretty talented kids, this is for you. If I had to pick one knock on this film, it's that it could have held its own without the need for the sci-fi element but that doesn't take very much away from it at all.