Super 8 - Movie Review

a mix between Goonies and E.T.

One thing for certain, JJ Abrams has set the standard for the most nostalgic movie of the summer. I haven't seen anyone do a 70's do better, since Patrick Fugit made Almost Famous. That's the kind of the freshness you get with Joel Courtney's Joe Lamb in this film. Of course, some will complain about certain scenes (the train scene imparticular or the alien monster was just too mechanical) but the movie isn't totally about special effects.

Elle Fanning as Alice who wants to be in their zombie movie.

Abrams invented characters, with stories that will tug at your heart. Joe and Alice (the wonderful and talented Elle Fanning) or sort of like star-crossed lovers, in a sense..and yet not. I enjoyed the emotion between them as the past catches up to these new teens who have been through a lot, already in their hometown lives. Of course, you have the people of the little Ohio town that make up this story, as well. Joe's friends, the movie freaks, Charlie, Cary, Preston and Martin. Played respectfully by Riley Griffith, Zach Mills, Ryan Lee and Gabriel Basso.

It might take you a bit to figure out who he is. Definitely got a 70's look going on in Super 8!

This movie has a hometown feel to it, that takes place in 1979. Having David Gallagher (From 7th Heaven) as Donny, the pot head at the camera shop, is a plus too. He was totally unrecognizable, but I loved how he fit into the movie too. Also, there is the amazing Kyle Chandler who play's the Dad as well as the deputy in town who has to get to the bottom of what really happened at that train accident.

Dads do hug your kids.

It was no ordinary catastrophe. And it takes Joe and his friends to figure it out. Even so, in the home front of suburbia (sort of), there are problems between Alice and Joe because of their Dads and what had happened at the steel mill where everyone worked. Alice's Dad is played by Ron Eldard definitely puts a certain drama to the story.

Of course, there is that other drama going on about the alien that the Air Force is hush hush about. But the kids learn the truth from their science teacher(Glen Turman) who was in the train crash. They learn the truth about whats really going on.

Seriously, its a movie about home town heros. And Kyle Chandler has a part that shows all sides of his character's nature. I'm so glad he was in this film. Oh, and don't forget to stay after the credits..you'll be glad you did!

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STORYLINE: In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth - something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined.