Super 8

Super 8 is the story of a group of kids that witness a crazy train crash while filming a movie. Mystery and monsters follow.

So this movie was brought to you by Steven Speilberg and J.J. Abrams. Abrams is the guy behind Lost, and while I was a HUGE fan of the show, Super 8 suffers from some of the flaws of Lost. Super 8 (like Lost) takes on too much, in an effort to be mysterious and supernatural, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Like, why were those people hanging upside down? And if he could do that magnetic thing to get his Legoes back, why didn't he do it sooner? Why would Alice's dad have a problem with Joe? How could a pickup truck derail a train so violently? I had way more questions, but I don't remember them, but you get the idea. Also like Lost, the monster makes the same clicking noise as Smokie did from Lost, I thought that was a little too lazy, and an obvious connection

I haven't seen Cloverfield, but I did see the trailer for it, and I got sort of that same mysterious monster vibe from Super 8 (I think Abrams did Cloverfield too, try a different genre, buddy!) I also got a Stand By Me vibe for the first little bit, which I really enjoyed. A group of boys, 12 or 13 having an adventure, set a couple decades ago. Classic. The group dynamics are successful, and each are memorable in their own way. Elle Fanning (Dakota's sister) plays the love interest, and there is something fascinating about her. There also seems to be some remnants of early Spielberg movies, like ET, kids getting into trouble while the adults try to cover it up. These associations to older films kind of creates a nostalgia for that type of story and film making and I liked it.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this movie, I was pretty sure I thought it was a scary one, but it's more of a suspense, and it is so nice to once in a while be on the edge of your seat while watching a movie, wondering what will happen next, and only slowly have pieces of the puzzle be revealed. For all the holes and unbelievable parts (not to mention a little bit of an obscure monster) Super 8 ticks right along and delivers an interesting movie filled with action, drama, emotion, and suspense.