Super 8 Review

Director: J.J. Abrams
Writer: J.J. Abrams
Producers: J.J. Abrams, Steven Spielberg
Starring: Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler

Super 8 is a phenomenal film that is full of thrills and adventure. J.J. Abrams wrote every scene intelligently while setting up scene after scene. The rising star claims this film is his ode to Spielberg and it did not disappoint. Super 8 can be mostly related to Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind, while there are also hints of E.T. in it.

Super 8 first surfaced a couple of years ago when word got out that J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg were teaming up to create a science fiction thriller. No one knew the plot or what the big "mystery" was behind the film. Everything was kept under wraps and not even the actors themselves knew what was going on. “I haven’t even seen the movie yet,” claimed Fanning. ”We’re going to find out (the secret) the same time you guys do.” Elle Fanning and the other actors filmed mostly on a green screen, therefore, not having a clue what the "monster" was going to look like. A teaser was first released summer of 2010 during the screening of Iron Man 2. All the teaser showed was a train derailing with something pounding on the side of an Air Force train cart. Needless to say the marketing behind the film was remarkable.

Super 8 is a story with middle-school-age kids who set out to make a zombie flick with their Super 8 camera, accidentally witness a  train crash, and become involved in a tale of extraterrestrial mystery. With the endless thrills (the train crash is the ultimate movie magic), there is also a love story that holds the movie together. The uncontrollable emotions that pour out of the characters throughout the film eventually leads to the audience with their own emotional roller coaster. 

The film has all the thrills a science fiction movie should have while keeping the audience in suspense until the very end. The entire cast did an incredible job making the film come to life. Elle Fanning and the other kids were remarkable working together on screen, playing off each other perfectly. I truly can not say enough on the job they did. TV's Friday Night Lights star Kyle Chandler also did an incredible job as the town's police deputy.

Verdict: Must See
Grade: A-