‘Super 8’ falls short of hype but still delivers

By John Villarose
Lycourier Staff

“Super 8,” the newest film by writer and director J. J. Abrams (“Cloverfield”, “Star Trek”) and producer Stephen Spielberg (“Back to the Future”, “Transformers”), was predicted by some to be the blockbuster movie of the summer. Saying it falls short of this is by no means calling it a bad movie; the expectations created were just possibly a bit too high for “Super 8” to achieve.

“Super 8” is a science fiction movie centered about mysteriously supernatural elements, so if that isn’t your thing, this probably won’t be the movie for you. In 1979, a group of kids (yes, the majority of the main cast is made up of children) are attempting to make an amateur science horror flick, amateur being the key word, when they are witness and almost victim to a horrific train crash nearby.

Soon afterward, when the typical strange events occur in their town, as would happen in most generic science fiction, the children are left with the dilemma of whether or not to tell about what they’ve seen. As one would expect, small occurrences become large, and suddenly everyone is in danger. Of course, it is up to this small group of children to save their town, and possibly, the world.

With two of the biggest names in the industry, big things are to be expected here. Literally big. They handle that aspect very well. Throughout the movie, it’s constantly trying to top itself on terms of scale. The visual effects do well to show off modern filmmaking technology, and the booming sound makes you shake in your seat.

The story itself is not spectacular, but it is still good and in most cases fairly easy to follow. If you can’t already tell, the movie is chock full of science fiction clichés galore. Yet that doesn’t keep it from having plenty of new ideas. I wish the message behind it was better though. It seems to have some kind of moral somewhere, but it’s hidden behind explosions and terror and everything else of the like.

The acting was something that initially worried me. A main cast made up of children in what should be a serious movie? To me, that seems like they’re trying to mix “The Little Rascals” with “Aliens.” It’s not an easy thing to do.

The story revolves around Joe Lamb (portrayed by Joel Courtney), your everyday motherless son with a distant father. A father who just happens to be a cop. Lamb gets together with his spoiled friends: Charles (Riley Griffiths), Preston (Zach Mills), Martin (Gabriel Basso), and Cary (Ryan Lee). I found all of them to be fairly annoying, and they had no right trying to save the world from supernatural horror.

None of these characters were portrayed badly; then again, there aren’t any Oscar-worthy efforts made here either. Perhaps the best of the young actors was Elle Fanning (younger sister of Dakota) who plays Alice, the pretty girl that all the pre-pubescent boys are crushing on. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but it won’t take three guesses to figure out who she ends up with. My first thought when seeing her was “This girl is much too old to be hanging out with these little kids.” To my surprise, Fanning herself is two years younger than Courtney. Apparently the acting was good enough to fool me.

Don’t take this the wrong way. “Super 8” is a good movie. It kept me entertained for a solid 100 out of 112 minutes. That being said, I wouldn’t blame anybody for walking out 10 minutes early. I can guarantee that the atrocious ending will be better in your head then it will be on screen. Still, if you like well-done science fiction film, you’ll like this movie. If you like watching huge, high-budget blockbusters, you’ll probably like this movie as well.

If you just want something to go on see with your friends on a Friday night, it’s something to check out.

This film is being presented free-of-charge by Campus Activities Board, and will be shown at 8 p.m. Sept. 23 to 25 in Heim G-11