There are summer popcorn movies, and then there are summer popcorn movies that are likely to hold up upon repeated viewings. I saw SUPER 8 this past weekend, and I suspect it will fall into the second category.
It’s the summer of 1979. Thirteen-year-old Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) and his father, Jack (Kyle Chandler), are both having a difficult time adjusting to daily life after the accidental death of Joe’s mother. While the senior Lamb immerses himself in work as a local deputy sheriff, Joe and his friends are obsessed with writing, producing and shooting their very own zombie epic, using Super 8 mm film. The boys successfully convince their classmate, Alice (Elle Fanning), to portray the role of the “wife” in their movie. During a late-night shoot, the kids are the only witnesses to a truly horrific trail derailment… and the mysterious behavior of the Air Force units that race to secure the crash site.
The visual and audio effects are outstanding (especially the train crash), and I repeatedly found myself sitting on the edge of my seat, holding my breath and watching the screen with one eye open.
However, for me, what sets Super 8 apart – and amplifies the effectiveness of its action set pieces – is how it intentionally recalls the character dynamics of 1980s movies, like The Goonies and E.T.
So many times, the kids in films are just a little “too”: too glib, too cool and too wise beyond their years… especially in comparison with the “clueless” adults.
In contrast, the kids of Super 8 remind me of actual kids I knew as I was growing up. They genuinely behave like 13, 14 and 15 year-olds. They are occasionally annoying and basically good but not so good that they don’t find themselves in scrapes. They’re well written, and when you combine that with natural performances by the teenaged actors, it’s something special.
The adults aren’t slouches, either. It says something about Chandler, in particular, that his very on-screen presence is the embodiment of a stand-up guy, who isn’t perfect but is doing his best to deal with extraordinary circumstances in an honorable way.
I cared about the characters of Super 8 and what happened to them, which upped the stakes and made the rest of the spectacle all the more entertaining.
https://youtu.be/tCRQQCKS7go
SUPER 8: Written and directed by J.J. Abrams. Starring: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler and Ron Eldard.