Summer Movie Review: Super 8

Sometimes critics are way off when they give a movie a bad review; they get too clinical, too technical with a movie that is just supposed to be entertaining, not world-changing. They point out flaws in performances that were never intended to be “Oscar-worthy” and scripts that were obviously not adapted from the works of a writer like Shakespeare. It’s times like these when I’ll argue “Hey, it’s only a movie! Get over yourself!”

And the opposite is true when critics praise a movie that most people would not watch, even if they were paid for it! These “artsy-fartsy” movies sometimes have merit (I’ve seen and enjoyed many of these films), but often times they are pretentious, deliberately complex and overlong films! And I will find myself arguing “Hey, it’s only a movie! It’s not like it’s a cure for cancer!”

Critics are even capable of finding positive things to say about the more “commercial” movies (i.e. good, fun, exciting), such as a summer blockbuster. And while I will often agree with their praise over these movies (like last summer’s Inception), I will sometimes be in total disagreement. Currently there is a summer movie playing that the critics think is “hot”; however, I was left feeling “cold” after seeing it.

I realize I may be opening myself up to an assortment of criticisms and arguments from anyone who saw Super 8 and loved it. I respect the good reviews of the critics, the positive opinions of the public. In my opinion, though, Super 8 wasn’t the best movie I’ve seen this summer, and  I was disappointed with it. Sometimes the hype surrounding a movie can do more damage than good. The expectations are so high that it would be impossible for all of them to be met.


Instead of giving an overview of the movie, like with my past reviews, I’ll just stick with the basics. I am not out to convince anyone that I am right and that they shouldn’t see this movie or like this movie. I am just voicing my opinion, which is not right, just different.

Basic premise: in the summer of 1979 a group of young kids, working together to film a zombie movie for a filmmakers contest, witness a major train accident. The train contains an alien creature that makes an escape. Then bizarre things begin to happen in their small town, from people and appliances disappearing, to dogs running away. There is a lot of action, there are many frightening moments, and there are some fine performances. 

So, what’s my problem?

Well, for starters, the kids themselves. The main character is a nice boy named Joe (Joel Courtney, in a fine performance) who is grieving for his recently deceased mother. His father is a deputy and is distant from Joe. Joe is surrounded by kids, including the sweet leading lady for the zombie film (Elle Fanning, terrific!) Now these are kids who actually look like kids, as opposed to most Hollywood productions. I liked this about the movie - it was more believable. On the other hand some of these kids were so annoying. Many of them swear, almost to the point that it seems like the kid actors are reading lines that should be written for the adult actors. I may sound like a prude, although I’ve heard kids swear before and I’m not shocked by it, but in this instance I found it distracting. And did we really need to hear a teenage stoner guy drop the “F” bomb?! Wasn’t there enough violence in this movie to warrant the PG-13 rating? Also, these kids seem a little too savvy for 1979. I mean, this movie takes place before things like the Internet and Wikipedia, and yet the kids seem to know quite a lot about conspiracies and government cover-ups. And they manage to do a respectable job of eluding the alien and the government officials. Although, for a shot of reality we see one of the kids throw up on multiple occasions. Thanks. We really needed to see that to figure out that the kid was becoming sick from the experience. Ultimately, I felt like I was watching modern day kids wearing 1970s clothes.

And speaking of the 1970s, it seemed like every few minutes a different song from that era was played, as if to remind the audience “hey, in case you forgot, this is 1979, not 2011!” I’m not complaining about the music, mind you, because I lived in the ‘70s and loved a lot of the music. I didn’t need the frequent references to understand when this movie took place. As for the fashions, many of the outfits seemed fairly accurate for the time, although there would be an outfit that just screamed the 1970s and another outfit that seemed more appropriate for the present day.

Gee, I do sound like a critic, getting all technical here. 

Hey, Jeremy! Remember...it’s only a movie!

My other major problem with this movie was the conclusion, which seemed abrupt and nonsensical. The exposition of how the alien came to be, why the train derailed and the motivation behind the alien “invading” the town was adequately handled; however, the conclusion left me a little dissatisfied. Most of the storyline was resolved, people were reunited, lessons were learned (such as letting go of the past), but there were a few things that were not cleared up for me.

In summary: good performances (aside from a couple of truly obnoxious, vulgar kids); haunting score (reminiscent of John Williams); amazing special effects (the train derailment is spectacular!) Still, with the issues I had about the movie I will have to rank Super 8 as a:

Not spectacular like a Bonfire or enjoyable like a Campfire, 

just an ordinary Stove Fire.