Super 8 (Movie Review)

J.J. Abrams has been astounding the minds of his fans for years, and the mysterious storylines continue in his new film Super 8. The film takes place in the Summer of 1979 in a small Ohio town where everything goes from ordinary and boring to straight up bizarre when a train carrying top secret military cargo crashes in the town. The original trailer for the film showed one of the crashed boxcars with an unseen creature banging away on the inside of the container, and the film slowly uncovers the mysterious identity of the creature and why the military is so desperate to get it back without making the town's citizens none the wiser.


In the beginning of Super 8, viewers are introduced to a young boy named Joe (Joel Courtney), who is dealing with the death of his mother after an accident at the local factory. The film then skips ahead some time after the funeral and introduces several other kids that are friends with Joe. The kids are working together to create their own zombie film,, and they happen to be filming a scene at the local train station when a truck drives onto the tracks and causes the crash. From there, plenty of mysterious occurrences begin happening around town that will change the life of all of its residents forever.

Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning and the other young actors deliver good performances as believable kids living in the late 70s and as bad actors in the film they are shooting in Super 8's storyline. Kyle Chandler also makes a strong performance as Deputy Jackson Lamb who is also Joe's guardian after the death of his mother. The film often seems to lose itself during the movie where classic kid's adventure turns into a science fiction film then into a horror film before turning back into science fiction, and the actual plot is nearly as convoluted. The strong acting supports Abrams' film that definitely isn't his best work.

The main storyline featured in Super 8 follows the adventures of the kids trying to figure out what was onboard the train and what is terrorizing their hometown. Super 8 isn't a classic film such as The Goonies, but it is a good enough movie to make it well worth renting or streaming online. The film features great acting performances from many young actors and has plenty of interesting twists over the duration of the film. The plot isn't always logical, but it's still interesting enough to make Super 8 a film worth going out and seeing today.

Super 8 is now available from all major retailers and has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA. For more information on the film, check out the official Super 8 website.

Movie Features:
Release Date: June 10, 2011
Director: J.J. Abrams
Running Time: 112 Minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Cast: Elle Fanning, AJ Michalka, Kyle Chandler

Score: 6.5 out of 10