Movie: Super 8

Love him or hate him, you have to admit J.J. Abrams comes up with some pretty unique stuff.  I recently went to the movie Super 8 with some friends.  For me, it definitely accomplished what it seemed to be setting out to do.

Super 8 really feels like an extreme homage to early Steven Spielberg movies.  This shouldn't be too much of a surprise as Spielberg collaborated with J.J. Abrams in making the film.  From using child actors appropriately and somehow making them more interesting than annoying, to combining comedy, suspense and elements of sci-fi, at some moments you could swear you were watching a long lost Steven Spielberg classic like The Goonies or ET.  Some critics say the film stumbles in some areas to ultimately jog you out of this feeling, but for me it didn't seem to hinder the movie.

The story revolves around a group of kids that make films together and are trying to finish their newest production to enter it in a film contest.  This is a very endearing element to me, as well as I'm sure many other like-minded individuals who can relate to doing things similarly in their childhoods.  When a train derails during the middle of one of their takes, things start to become eerie in their once quaint town.  Even with a strong military presence, the children play a major role in uncovering the truth about these strange happenings.  The characters grow throughout the film and learn life long lessons along the way.

I found this to be a very entertaining piece of summer cinema.  If you're looking for a truly good movie that evokes nostalgia albeit being produced in the present day, look no further than this film.  It is one of the better one's I have seen this year so far.