‘Super 8’ is a science-fiction based fantasy film that has been written and directed by J.J Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg. J.J Abrams has produced many films such as Cloverfield and Morning Glory and has directed films such as Mission Impossible: III and Star-Trek. Spielberg has been recognised as someone related to the science fiction genre as he has produced/directed films similar to ‘Super 8’ earlier in his successful career. People may recognise his films as some of the greatest and sometimes relates them to the 'Golden Age of Hollywood'.
The film stars many young children as Spielberg has been known for casting children into his films. The protagonist is called Joe Lamb and he is play by Joel Courtney, where this is a breakthrough role for him as this is his first major role. Some of the supporting roles include Elle Fanning (the younger sister of Dakota Fanning) and Kyle Chandler who plays Joe’s father. He may be recognised by some of the audience watching the film as he has appeared in many television series such as Grey’s Anatomy and Friday Night Lights. He has also been nominated for awards such as Best Actor and received some as well.
Spielberg has been known to set most of his movies in the recent past to show some of his own childhood experiences. When he was a child, his first film that he shot was on with a 8mm camera which links in with the film's title and may have been the inspiration for the film.
Plot:
In the summer of 1979, six friends spend their time making a zombie movie with an 8mm camera. Joe Lamb does the make-up and he romances a liking to Alice Dainard who has only recently joined the group. While filming at the local railway depot, they see one of their teachers, Dr. Woodward, turn his truck onto the track and drive into an oncoming train which derails. As they continue trying to make their film, they realize that an extra-terrestrial was being carried on that train and is now loose in the community.
The actors have portrayed the characters quite intelligently and quite uniquely. They have tried to portray the characters similar to that of the genre. The film has elements of different genres within it including science-fiction, mystery and thriller genres. The reason why I think that it had parts of all of these genres is because of the fact that there is some sort of extre-terrestrial being on Earth and this makes the film science fiction where the suspense that the film kept us in about the identity of the alien, related to the mystery and the thriller elements. We did not get to see the appearance of it until the last half an hour and before that only silhouettes and slight outlines were shown which added to the mystery. The expectations, I must admit, were quite high for this film considering that it was produced by Steven Spielberg. I feel that it did live up to my expectations because of the fast-paced continuity of action throughout the film.
I noticed the soundtrack to the film as it had very eerie music whenever the alien seemed to be near apart from the ending and silence also preceded events before the alien was introduced to each scene. I enjoyed the music and sound effects that were used because it fitted the genre perfectly and kept me interested and captivated by the story of the film.
I would say that this film is targeted for people of all ages to enjoy. It has something in it for everyone. It is quite fast-paced, humorous, attention-grabbing and appealing. Although there is some language that would not be suitable for a young audience, however, the people that will not be offended will surely have no problem with it and will enjoy it. I would recommend this film as a film to watch as I particularly liked it and felt that it was very cleverly written and directed and the storyline actually intrigued me and think that it will do so to others.
