Movie Review Super 8

Super 8 (2011) 

Directed by J.J Abrams

Written by J.J Abrams

Starring Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard, Noah Emmerich 

Release Date June 10th, 2011

Published June 9th, 2011 

The combined imaginations of Steven Speilberg and J.J Abrams come together to create "Super 8" and it's a glorious combination. With Speilberg's childlike wonder and Abrams's taste in movie monsters, Super 8 is a nostalgic feast for those whose inner child carries fond memories of E.T, The Goonies, Stand by Me or any of the best of the cheesy, late night sci-fi movies of the 1950's.

Let's Make a Movie

In a Walt Disney-esque opening we see 12 year old Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) just after his mother has been killed. Joe is left in the care of his distant but protective father Jack (Kyle Chandler) while turning to his young friends for what modest comfort he can find. Part of his comfort is the distraction of making a movie.

Joe along with his visionary director pal Charles (Riley Griffiths), Martin (Gabriel Basso), Preston (Zach Mills) and Cary (Ryan Lee), are making a zombie on Charles's parent Super 8 camera. Charles has also recruited 14 year old Alice (Elle Fanning) to be his lead actress. Alice's father Louis (Ron Eldard) happens to have an unfortunate connection to Joe's mother.

On a late night on train station platform just outside of town the kids are filming a scene when a train rumbles through. As eager Charles sets up to get a shot of the train for the movie, Joe spots something unusual coming from the opposite direction, a truck has jumped onto the tracks and is driving right at the train.

Part Speilberg, Part Abrams

I will leave the rest of "Super 8" for you to discover, my plot description gets you through the first 10 minutes or so, right up until the spectacular train crash that will leave your jaw on the floor. Director J.J Abrams really loves the crashing of metal on metal and once the kids race to safety amidst the flying debris you will need a moment to catch your breath.

You won't have much time for breath catching however as director J.J Abrams delivers thrilling excitement at a brisk pace throughout. Super 8 is a fascinating mix of J.J Abrams taste for action and Steven Speilberg's childlike wonder. The film is equal parts "Cloverfield," which Abrams produced, and "E.T" and part "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" with a dash of the TV mystery "Lost."

Edge of Your Seat Excitement

Therein lies the only problem I foresee for Super 8 in finding audience; it's difficult to say what audience it's aimed at. Little kids, those under 12 will too frightened by Abrams's taste in alien movie scares while teenagers won't want to go to any movie that appeals to the nostalgia of mom and dad as Super 8 very much does.

Pushing aside the box office and marketing stuff, "Super 8" is quite simply a terrific movie. It has humor, suspense, action and scares in classically Speilberg fashion crafted with the modern imagination of J.J Abrams. "Super 8" is very much in the spirit of classic 50's sci fi movies which reminds me of my favorite line about classic sci fi, one that really applies to "Super 8," buy a ticket for a whole seat but you will only need 'THE EDGE!

Movie Review The Day the Earth Stood Still

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) 

Directed by Scott Derrickson

Written by David Scarpa

Starring Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Jaden Smith, Jon Hamm, Kathy Bates, Kyle Chandler

Release Date December 12th, 2008

Published December 12th, 2008

My fellow critics are being far too hard on the remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still starring Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly. Maybe it's fond memories of the 1951 Robert Wise original or maybe they are just grumpy, but my fellow critics have come out hard against this movie and I think they are overreacting. I will stipulate that from the standards of a traditional good movie vs bad movie standard The Day The Earth Stood Still is a bad movie. On the other hand, I think all of us knew that going in.

Keanu Reeves stars in The Day The Earth Stood Still as Klaatu, an alien from some unnamed universe collective. He has come to rescue the earth. From whom you might wonder. Autobots and Decepticons? No. The Borg Collective? No. Gremlins? No. No Klaatu is here to save the earth from you. You and me and your brother, mother, sister and cousin. Yes, humanity is a threat to the planet and if you can't pull that metaphor out of thin air, you really need to pick up a freakin' newspaper.

For the supremely dull, The Day The Earth Stood Still is an environmentalist parable. Humans are poisoning the planet and Klaatu is here to rescue it and the non-human inhabitants that are the earth's real friends. Standing in Klaatu's way is scientist Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly). Well she isn't physically standing in his way but she does appoint herself the savior by trying to reason with the killer alien.

Helen and her supremely irritating son Jacob (Jaden 'Big Willie's kid' Smith) team up to show Klaatu that humanity can change, learn lessons and maybe stop killing the planet. All we need is a wake up call. How about the destruction of most of the eastern seaboard?

Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm and Kyle Chandler round out the rest of the main cast in inconsequential roles. Then again, there is little of consequence in the whole of The Day The Earth Stood Still. Which brings me to my central thesis. Despite the environmental parable, at its heart The Day The Earth Stood Still is not a message movie. This is pure popcorn entertainment. Director Scott Derrickson gets it. He focuses great attention on the special effects which even the most ardent haters admit are pretty cool. The tiny metal bugs that begin eating humanity are badass effects and that truck eating scene. Very Cool.

So what if the metaphor is obvious and Keanu is a total cheeseball and that the film is more blatant about cross promotion than your average commercial TV broadcast, we knew walking into this movie that great art was not in our future. What The Day The Earth Stood Still was meant to deliver and what it does deliver are eye catching effects and some unintentional humor. We got those things in spades. I laughed throughout and left the theater with a big smile on my face. This goofball, popcorn blockbuster is fast paced, fun and the effects are dynamite. To expect this movie to treat serious topics with serious intent is a fool's errand.

You walk in knowing this is a big dumb movie and that is part of what you get. You also get a kick out of just how big and dumb the movie is. The filmmakers may not have meant to make me laugh and my smile at the end may have been somewhat ironic but so what. I truly enjoyed the experience of The Day The Earth Stood Still. How could I not recommend to you such a good time movie.