Super 8 (2011) Review

Super 8 (2011) Review

 

I’m not sure Stranger Things would have existed without Super 8. I remember when Stranger Things was first announced it was described as a mix of Stephen King and Steven Spielberg with a nostalgic 1980’s setting, and the first thing I thought was “So it’s like Super 8?” When you get into the nitty gritty, though, the Netflix series created by the Duffer Brothers and the film written and directed by J.J. Abrams tell pretty different stories, but on the surface the comparison is undeniable: young kids in a small town who get wrapped up in a strange mystery with government scientists and some kind of creature. Plus, Spielberg actually produced Super 8 and was involved in coming up with the story, so it’s a bit more than just being inspired by some of his films like Stranger Things was.

I’ll never forget seeing the 2010 teaser trailer for Super 8 in the theater. I don’t even remember what movie it played before, but that trailer got me the most hyped for a movie since Peter Jackson’s King Kong in 2005. It doesn’t show anything other than text explaining the disastrous transport of something from Area 51 on a train and some select shots of the train crash and something trying to break out of a train car. I didn’t even know what else the movie was about until much later. It begins with a young boy, Joe, losing his mother to a fatal working accident in 1979, then skips ahead four months to summer when he’s helping his friend Charles finish his Super 8 zombie film for a contest. Having their other friends involved isn’t enough, though: Charles needs a girl to play the main character’s wife, so they recruit Alice, who is the daughter of the man Joe’s father blames for the death of his wife/Joe’s mother. Their fathers don’t want them hanging out, but Joe and Alice are clearly into each other, so there’s some drama and tension there, and we haven’t even got to that train crash yet.

The train crash is completely over the top. Abrams wanted it to be the biggest train crash you’ve ever seen in any movie ever, and it certainly is, but it’s so explosive and so loud and so illogical that it’s almost too epic for its own good. How anyone could have survived the wreckage makes no sense, but craziest of all is that the crash is caused by a guy in a pickup truck, and he isn’t instantly obliterated when he drives directly into the train. We find out later this guy was from Area 51, and the unseen creature that escapes the crash is an alien trying to use strange white cubes to rebuild its ship and leave earth. The mystery is well established, and we never get to see the creature clearly until the end, which gives it that classic monster movie energy while also telling a coming-of-age tale. The kids are trying to finish their short film while also trying to figure out the mystery amidst the military investigation.

I think Super 8 is the reason Abrams ultimately got the gig to direct Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Even though he made a cool, fast-paced reboot of Star Trek first, Super 8 showed his ability to make a nostalgia-fueled story with heart and action and characters young viewers can root for, which is ultimately what Force Awakens became. Going back to Stranger Things, though, I think Super 8 is more effective in creating sustained suspense, and yet is not as scary or as gruesome. It’s not a criticism, though, I’m just saying it accomplishes a different goal in a different format. Where I think Super 8 is weakest is in its ending. I won’t spoil it, but the whole thing wraps up rather quickly, and tries to go for a sentimental Spielbergian conclusion reminiscent of Close Encounters of the Third Kind or E.T. but doesn’t quite stick the landing, and instead of having an emotional or thrilling ending, it kind of just fizzles out. Part of that I think is also to do with the music. The score by Michael Giacchino is decent, the theme is simple but catchy, but it’s a bit overused in certain scenes (including the final one), and it tries a little too hard to be emotionally manipulative.

The kids are good enough that you don’t mind the absence of the monster for most of the film. I’m surprised most of the young boys didn’t go on to be in anything else as big or as mainstream as this movie because they are all quite good. Joel Courtney does a great job as Joe, especially for playing a main character who carries a lot of emotional weight the entire time, and is the one who has a crush on Alice, played by Dakota Fanning’s younger sister Elle Fanning, who is also great. My two favourite supporting characters are Charles (Riley Griffiths) with his focus on “production value!” for the film and repeated use of the word “mint!” and Cary (Ryan Lee) who always has firecrackers at his disposal. During the end credits we get to see the complete short film “The Case” which is a fun bonus and helps distract from how weak the ending was moments earlier.

I’m maybe a little biased in my adoration for Super 8 because I was the kind of kid who went around making movies with my friends, but I think it’s relatable for most people even if that wasn’t a part of your childhood. I remember when it came out that many people expected it to be more than it was because of the marketing (much like Cloverfield three years earlier) but I think it’s better to look back on now without all the inaccurate hype. I really enjoyed it when I saw it as a teenager, but even as an adult I still find it enjoyable to re-watch. It was made with a budget of 50 million, which is actually not huge considering how many visual effects there are, and it holds up. Some of the train CGI is a bit iffy, but the monster (designed by Neville Page) looks good and the cinematography is great (minus too many lens flares, the J.J. Abrams staple).

I love Super 8 for so many reasons, but one of the big ones is how it makes me nostalgic for a period of time I wasn’t even alive for. It isn’t perfect and it definitely borrows heavily from better films, but I think it still stands out as something pretty great in its own right. And in case you were wondering…no, I can’t say it’s better overall than Stranger Things, because they’re too different from one another to be fairly compared, but I do think Super 8 is better than Stranger Things in certain ways.