Some things cannot be re-created

Rating: Null/10 (12 June 2011)

such as ET. The opening credit of "Super 8" shows on the left top corner of the frame a familiar silhouette of the bicycle-cum-baby-carriage against the full moon, bringing back the most joyful moment in "ET". Despite the tribute and Spielberg's stamp of approval, "Super 8" is not "ET". I'll come to that later. Also, that is not to say that "Super 8", taken on its own merit, is not a good movie.
In the overwhelming shadow of "ET", "Super 8" nevertheless has something all of its own to boast about. It is a movie about making movies. If you sit back to think, you'll be surprised at the large number of movies in this category, from Truffaut's lofty "La nuit americaine" (1973) to recent whimsical satire "Be kind rewind" (2008). Even more remarkable is the absolutely clever treatment of this subject. The kids' effort to make an 8mm movie takes the backseat as a mere plot device, until the final credit roll (don't leave early). Magically, all the scattered scenes about this you saw throughout the movie but didn't pay much attention to are strung together and edited into the final products emerging from the kids' effort, their entry to the contest entitled "The case".
"Super 8" is indeed similar to "ET" in a number of ways. Both are focused on children, on the world seen through their eyes, and on strange happenings that forever change their lives. "Super 8" builds on familiar material of parent-children relationship, adolescent love triangle, guilt and remorse, reconciliation and absolution. This is the human aspect of "Super 8" and has its own charm, especially in shaping the characters of the 6 kids involved in the project. The alien aspect however is where it fails miserably. The role of the big bad government is fine. The alien however is nothing more than a shallow self-contradiction. With the excellent special effect, it would be better if the movie makers have taken the alien to the abhorrence of Stephen King's "IT" (1990 – TV) or the aliens series instead of making a limp and half baked effort to try to humanize it.
What makes this movie shine is the cast of children: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills and Gabriel Basso.