Super 8 (Reviewed by Ed)

3.5 out of 4 stars

 

In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth - something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined. Written by Official site  

 

Classic Spielberg is back!  Going into see the early showing of Super 8, I wasn’t sure what to expect with the combination of Steven Spielberg and JJ Abrams…well it’s a great combination!  Super 8 is an emotional roller coaster where one minute you’re laughing and the next minute you are clenching the arm rest because of the intensity of the scene.  I would sum up this movie by saying that it’s a violent E.T-ish type of movie.  It has the look and feel of a Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T: Extra Terrestrial but with more violence and intensity…and A LOT of swearing.  I would say that’s one of the things in the movie that turned me off.  With the majority of the main actors being kids I was shocked at how much swearing they allowed them to do…especially the “chubby kid” as I will call him.  I don’t think he goes even one scene in the movie without swearing AT LEAST once.  One thing that parents need to be cautioned about is just because the majority of the main actors are kids doesn’t make this a kids movie.  It definitely earns the PG-13 rating for the language, scary images, etc. 

 

I’d have to say this is one of the loudest movies I’ve watched.  In fact the train wreck scene in the movie is not your father’s train wreck scene.  I remember watching the train wreck scene in the movie The Fugitive with Harrison Ford and thinking, “Wow!”  Well that has nothing on this wreck.  It was loud, intense and just plain awesome of a train wreck!  I watched the movie with 3 other people and they all said the same thing, “The train wreck was loud.”  This movie also has a hint of Cloverfield in it when it comes to the look of the alien in the movie.  I don’t want to give too much of the story/plot away so you’ll just have to see the movie to understand it.

 

The majority of the main actors are lesser known actors but they thrown in a few familiar faces like Noah Emmerich who plays Officer Nelec of the Air Force as well as a few others, but mostly these are actors who you may not know.  Dakota Fanning’s sister Elle Fanning is one of the main characters and does a wonderful job.  It was nice to see that, although the majority of the main characters were kids, they all did a great job in the acting department. 

 

Overall this was a great movie and definitely worth seeing, but again, not for the younger audiences!  Make sure you stay in your seats once the credits roll because about 30-60 seconds in you are going to get more of the movie in the credits, which is arguably the best part of the movie.  Trust me, it’s worth it!

 

Rating of whether I would see the movie again:
1 = Definitely not!
2 = Probably not.
3 = Maybe.
4 = Probably.
5 = Absolutely!

Would I see the movie again in the theaters? 4
Will I rent it on DVD and watch it at home? 1 (no because I will buy it)
Would I buy the movie? 5

 

“Super 8" is rated PG-13 and features Intense Sequences of Action, Intense Sequences of Violence, Language, Some sensual content, Coarse Language, Not Rec. for Young Children, Mature Theme, Frightening Scenes, Language May Offend.

Run time: 120 minutes