If you are a child of the 80's, a die-hard Spielberg fan, or a religious zealot after J.J. Abrams' work, then you'll probably be hard-pressed not to find something to enjoy with SUPER 8. It is after all a combo platter of E.T., War of the Worlds, The Goonies and a side order of Stand By Me. What's impressive about Abrams' newest creation though is that he was able to take bits and pieces that made those films click and focus them into a fairly condensed narrative that works on many levels.
Without going into an overly wordy summary of the plot, what you have essentially is a group of young kids on summer break who's primary goal is to get their homemade zombie flick completed and entered into the local film festival. On a particular night of shooting some scenes, they witness a horrific accident with a train derailing and the Super 8 mm film camera they were using manages to capture more than just the explosions from the crash, but instead the revelation that something beyond human was being kept inside the train, and that something is now loose. After an army investigation into the disaster begins, the kids are swept up into their own discovery of just what was hidden aboard the boxcars and how deeply it will impact their city and lives.
Without the group of young actors assembled in this, I really don't think SUPER 8 would work as well as it does. The banter back and forth between the young boys is quite humorous and quick-paced, but it's the twitterpated expressions by Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning that bring back the memory of what it was like to have that first crush and the feeling you could move mountains to impress that person. The scenes with Courtney and Fanning really give the movie its heart and soul, and thankfully Abrams' was able to direct them to some fairly honest performances that don't come off as cheesy or overly melodramatic.
As a tale of suspense, the first 2/3 of the film really work. The creature on the train is kept in the dark, attacking like a character in the original Jurassic Park...vicious, quick and out of sight. The camera doesn't give away too much early on and the use of sound editing is smartly used to ramp up the impact of the attacks. It's heading into the wrap up of the storyline where things start to loose steam and it feels like a very lighthearted way to cap off an otherwise fairly intense work. I'm not sure if the ending was how it was originally planned, but I couldn't help but think this could have had a different closure that left things a bit more ominous. I wasn't unhappy with the direction it took, it just didn't knock me off my socks like the first half did.
As I walked out of the film, the first comparison I could make to this was E.T., but it's kind of like an Elseworld's tale where E.T. has fangs and is none too happy about his current predicament. A child of the 80's myself, I was glad to see Abrams' use all these influences he's so obviously felt from Spielberg's previous works. While not yet the craftsman that his mentor is, I think this puts J.J. much more on track to be a force to be reckoned with in this genre. I thoroughly enjoyed his Star Trek reboot, and think he really does have a voice all his own when it comes to film making. This is like a kid growing up after watching a master at work, and one day when he finally gets his tools and shop up and running, SUPER 8 is Abrams' way of saying "Thanks".
Bottom Line: J.J. Abrams' throwback to the 80's sci-fi genre is worth checking out, but not an instant classic