Film Review: Super 8

Director: J.J. Abrams

Movie Poster

J.J. Abrams directed and also wrote Super 8 but obviously with a helping hand from producer Steven Spielberg. To stop myself harping on about it throughout the review I will state now that I felt the ending was ruined by Spielberg which is a real shame as the first 2/3 of the movie were top notch. I won't say what happens obviously except that I was very disappointed, would love to hear other people's thoughts on this.

Jack Lamb (Kyle Chandler who is superb once again) and Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney, excellent also) mourn the death of their mother in the fictional town of Lillian in Ohio. Joe and his friends decide to enter a film competition at the end of the school year, they decide to film a low budget zombie movie and even convince Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning) to star. After sneaking out after a dark, the film a scene at the local train depot and use a passing train to increase the authentic feel of the film but the film derails after crashing head on with a car. A pile of strange white cubes are found by the train but the kids are forced to run as an armed force from the local air base arrive.

Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning) and Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney)

The acting by the youngsters, especially Joel Courtney and Riley Griffiths, is excellent as they play a group of nerdy teenagers making a zombie movie on an 8mm camera. Some even compared Elle Fanning's audition scene to Naomi Watts' audition scene in Mulholland Drive but I think that is a bit excessive. The scene by the train depot from the filming of the scene to the train derailing is superb and leaves you captivated as to what everything means. Why does someone drive their car under the train and what are the small white cubes?

The ever brilliant Kyle Chandler as Jack Lamb

As a huge fan of Friday Night Lights, I am obviously biased when it comes to Kyle Chandler but he is great as the caring Dad who wants his son to stay out of trouble before realising that the Army are up to somethign dodgy with regards to the train crash. He takes to fighting the army to find out the truth in a realistic way without trying to turn some normal Dad into Jason Bourne.

Naturally the making of the zombie movie creates some sweet and funny moments between the youngsters which again are well played. We even get to see the final cut of the zombie movie that is finished after the movie, suddenly the acting doesn't seem quite so powerful!

2.5/4 The first 2/3s of the film are excellent but the ending destroys a lot of the magic.