| SUPER 8 |
Rated PG-13 |
112 minutes |
Review by Scott Weitz |
June 9, 2011 |
4 1/2 Stars |
In the summer of 1979, a group of kids shooting their amateur zombie movie witness and record a cataclysmic train accident and must band together to discover the dangerous secret cargo freed from the wreckage which threatens to destroy their lives and home town. This may be an apt plot synopsis for SUPER 8, but Abrams tells a much simpler and deeper story about the trust, betrayal and early love these youngsters live through during this crisis. While the deliberate trail derailment and somewhat heavy-handed Air Force intrigue that ensues sometimes flirts with derailing the larger soulful story, such thrills and suspicions raised by the monster-on-the-loose set pieces keep the film plowing forward lest its character studies play too calmly for summer popcorn-fed audiences. Clever and occasionally obvious Spielberg canon references aside, the most distinctive tribute to those films is how skillfully Abrams plugs into that distinct kid's-world view of life in a small town, where the children often display more maturity than their parents and a neighborhood defines the comfortable parameters of their collective world. Young protagonists like Joe Lamb, Alice Dainard and their narrow cadre of friends are perpetually misunderstood by their elders, their souls braving new frontiers yet still fragile to a parent's too harshly spoken word at the wrong time. Unfettered by adult cynicism rampant in the world they see but do not yet live, these kids retain their precious grasp on hope, wonder and inspiration that both Spielberg and Abrams recollect fondly and sadly as a surrendered memento of their pasts. Accordingly, as its title hints at thematically, SUPER 8 remembers childhood in the 70s vividly, imperfectly and just inaccurately enough to recall more of the sweet joys from that era and kindly forget its downer drawbacks.
 SUPER 8 succeeds wholly on its stellar cast of mostly unknown youngsters, backed up by solid supporting actors populating this intimately scaled film. Abrams already proved he could direct an ensemble with wit and panache in STAR TREK, but dialing down his focus onto a fictional Ohio town opened up lightyears of emotional territory to explore. The phenomenal Joel Courtney plays Joe Lamb, the young lad whose mother dies just before the film's opening and must regain a grip on his suddenly unbalanced home life. His father Jackson (Kyle Chandler) is of little help to Joel, choosing to bury himself in his work as the town's deputy sheriff instead of dealing with the recent burial of his wife. Their troubled relationship shows glimmers of a loving father-son connection between them, but Jackson has entirely disconnected his emotions — save perhaps for his simmering anger at their mutual loss — which leaves Joe to mourn and heal and survive by his own wits and fortitude. This dysfunctional equation will be very familiar to fans of producer Spielberg's own films, rife with divorced or single-parent families where children are forced to fill in a crucial empty space in their lives, and subsequently force their parent to mature beyond this disjointed stage to reunite as a whole once more. Courtney shines magnificently in this effort, though Chandler draws the short straw only because Abrams' script writes Jackson more shallowly than was Spielberg's father figure Roy Neary in CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND — though to Jackson's credit, he does finally abandon his obsessive mission and come back to his son.
 Joe's small circle of equally 'unpopular' friends are no less compelling: Riley Griffiths is superb as Charles, the chubby filmmaker-to-be whose Super 8 zombie epic is interrupted by the train disaster and, worse, his best-friendship with Joe is threatened by the inclusion of a girl in the project. As Alice Dainard, Elle Fanning will win hearts and minds with her naturalistic, emotional performance as the seemingly unattainable young beauty (from Joe and Charlie's point of view) who joins their film crew to escape from her hard-drinking, emotionally damaged father Louis (Ron Eldard). He harbors his own guilts about the death of Jackson's wife at the mill, resulting in furious tensions between Jackson and Louis, placing another emotional obstacle in Alice and Joe's path as they grow closer. Ryan Lee as the brace-faced firecracker expert Cary lends unforced and enjoyable comic relief, often sparring with Gabriel Basso as Martin, the zombie film's lead actor who at moments appears to channel an adolescent Matt Damon, at least when he's not barfing in the middle of a terrifying sequence. Zach Mills rounds out the quasi-Goonies group as Preston, the most timid boy and least-developed of the characters.
On the antagonist side of the ledger, Noah Emmerich steps up as the military authority figure to be distrusted upon sight (per 1970s conventions) and his officer Nelec gets in everyone's face to cover up the train wreck's secret escapee, though demonstrates few character traits beyond his functionality — a deficiency Abrams' mentor Spielberg would have rectified to enhance the plot-driven dangers of this crisis. Glynn Turman carries his brief moments on-screen well as the kids' cantankerous biology teacher Dr. Woodward who has a personal past with the what's-it stomping around behind the trees, shaking down the town for sundry electrical equipment and snatching up citizens.
Abrams wisely avoids duplicating Spielberg's early films of similar themes, spanning blockbuster titles like JAWS, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and E.T., but rather borrows noted emotional hooks in the master's tales and then suspends his own story from them. Reportedly, SUPER 8 was born of two separate ideas lurking unrealized in Abrams' imagination: an intimate drama about kids' youthful friendships that had no plot to power it, and a sci-fi scare about an alien creature on the run from its Area 51-style captivity which had no definable characters to enliven it. The former is the undisputed champion of this one-two storytelling punch, as audiences will quickly hone in on the emotional journeys of these young people. The creature feature is rightly relegated to the subplot of the film, and at times almost feels like an intrusion on the enjoyable, humorous or tear-tempting moments of fear, frustration and innocent affection embodied through this amazing young cast. If that sounds like a refreshing result for a studio film entry in the high-concept, low-intellect silly season of summer, feel free to rejoice in the surprise which awaits you.
I won't spoil the monstrous secret promised when the SUPER 8 trailer touted "It arrives" in promotions, largely because the alien is nearly inconsequential to anything beyond its own mystery subplot. Even Abrams' fans who enjoy a little multiplex detective work spotting his renowned penchant for placing referential Easter Eggs in his films will soon drop their pursuit in favor of riding along this emotional roller coaster with the kids — though fleeting mentions like the Kelvin gas station, a brief vintage appearance by TREK's Leonard Nimoy, and copious Spielbergian filmic touches can be found throughout. Suffice it to say that Abrams' film consciousness was raised on a steady diet of Spielberg's films, so he and cinematographer Larry Fong faithfully yet creatively call back those eyes-of-wonder close up shots, breezy night skies filled with stars that beg extraterrestrial contact, and documentary lens flares per cinematic tradition. In a smart move, composer Michael Giacchino never attempts to trod on John Williams' long shadow in the Spielberg score library of masterpieces, but instead supports SUPER 8 tonally and emotionally to, thankfully, let the moments of heartache and inspiration speak and act for themselves.
Given Abrams' deliberate lack of publicity hype in advance of the film's release, SUPER 8 is bound to catch summer movie audiences off guard as it tugs on heartstrings and revives shared childhood memories of tender youth without slipping into sappy melodrama. Courtney, Griffiths and Fanning elicit numerous smiles and some valid lumps in the throat as their disrupted lives collide and crisscross in action facing this otherworldly threat. Much more than a cinematic valentine to the best Steven Spielberg offered up to cinematic history and pop culture of the 1970s and '80s, Abrams has crafted a nostalgic look back at a world which never existed outside the protective cloak of a dark theater, yet is filled with common adolescent triumphs and failures, both great and laughable, with which anyone who was a pre-teen can identify all too well. If you were a boy in the '70s who built Aurora model kits and were obsessed with monsters or sci-fi, SUPER 8 may offer an extra layer of geeky goodness for you, but that's hardly required for entry here. The secret to SUPER 8 is its heart, and rare it is for a summer film from such a popular filmmaker to wear his on his sleeve so openly. Few films since the height of Spielberg's early era have so eloquently balanced emotion and imagination, wonder and worry over characters who truly evoke our concern. Luckily J.J. Abrams has succeeded in that achievement on his own terms as a filmmaker and a father. FilmEdge ranks SUPER 8 as the best film of the summer so far and gives it 4 1/2 stars for the most enjoyable trip to the cineplex this year. |
