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Super 8 (2011)

Director: JJ Abrams

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28 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Is it just nationalist fervour, or has a low-budget British effort from a first-time director actually beaten the cream of Hollywood at their own game? ‘Super 8’ has a solid pedigree – written and directed by ‘Lost’ creator JJ Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg – but in an ’80s-referencing, kids-v-aliens action smackdown, it’d lose badly to our very own ‘Attack the Block’.

The links between the two films are notable: both feature gangs of pop-culture-savvy teens who come up against an intergalactic menace and both pay direct homage to the post-‘Star Wars’, pre-CGI golden age of kid-friendly genre cinema. But where Joe Cornish’s Brixton-set barnstormer used these influences as a springboard for a pacy, socially conscious comedy-horror, Abrams’s small-town sci-fi fantasy seems hamstrung by its director’s desire to pay glowing tribute to his cinematic heroes.

‘Super 8’ opens strongly, as a gang of youths led by recently bereaved SFX nut Joe (Joel Courtney) and bullish wannabe director Charles (Riley Griffiths) set out to make a DIY zombie movie for a local film festival and accidentally photograph a devastating train crash. It’s not long before the army shows up, people begin to disappear and Joe and his friends are caught in the middle of a military cover-up.

There’s plenty to recommend here: the train crash sequence is stunning, a thunderous and nail-biting display of special effects wizardry and directorial flair. The young actors are great too, notably an icily imposing performance from Elle Fanning as the troubled object of Joe’s romantic desires. Abrams’s script sparkles in a handful of overlapping, Spielbergian suburban dialogue scenes and it’s sprinkled with choice one-liners.

But as the plot contrivances pile up, Abrams finds it impossible to maintain either the quality or the tension. The humour descends from snappy, believable banter to broad ‘Goonies’-style slapstick – kids shrieking and falling over – while the emotional scenes plummet from the wonderfully terse, tight-lipped tragedy of the prologue to pure, manipulative schmaltz. Worst of all, the alien subplot is tiresome and derivative, leading to a laughable sub-‘ET’ finale.

It seems churlish to deride as unoriginal a film intended so clearly as homage, but the likes of ‘Attack the Block’ prove you can be both familiar and fresh. ‘Super 8’ doesn’t even try, content to let our nostalgic memories of better movies fill in the blank spaces in the script. The result is a diverting but rather pointless affair, undermined by its obsessive and clinical commitment to recreating past glories. Bring on ‘Attack the Block 2’.

Author: Tom Huddleston

Time Out London Issue 2137, Aug 4-10 2011

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User reviews of this film

Mel Green said...

Posted on Apr 11 2012 11:14 Promising premise and I am no sic fi fan but appealed due to growing up in the 80's. On the edge of being an okay film- the ingrediants are there- promising good actors, bearable storyline and script but it feels like it never fully materialises. This is so unfortunate as it has the makings of a good film but leaves you feeling like you should watch the Goonies to aleviate the emptyness left once the film ends. Disappointing

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Thomas Noctor said...

Posted on Nov 16 2011 04:15 Worth a watch, good special effects and a good story line. Nothing really bad to say here and as a bonus, there are a few laughs too. Well made!!

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Dave A said...

Posted on Sep 06 2011 11:50 I watch a lot of films of all types (except chick-flicks which i avoid like the plague). Some I watch with my grandchildren and, believe me, I have sat through some serious crap - "Mr Popper's Penguins" being the most recent (God, I detest Jim Carrey). I went to "Super 8" with my grandson and with the usual rock-bottom expectations. Surprise! I actually didn't hate it! In fact I
quite liked it - of it's type it is very watchable, with a decent story and good acting by the young cast. has gone a little way to restore my faith in under 18 targeted films.

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ecstaticfilmgoer said...

Posted on Aug 28 2011 21:05 I agree with a lot of the comments here - I didn't enjoy Attack the Block at all, despite really, really wanting to, as I loved Adam and Joe and I thought the kids in the film gave great performances. But they were nowhere near as great as the kids in Super 8. Super 8 was gorgeous from start to finish - the minor issue of there being something missing story-wise near the end didn't really detract from the wonderfulness of feeling like it was 1979. It is miles better than both Attack the Block and Avatar! I loved it.

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Ed said...

Posted on Aug 25 2011 14:56 Action packed, brilliantly nostalgic homage to Steven Spielberg. Basically it's The Goonies meets ET meets Close Encounters with a bit of JJ Abrams Cloverfield. A lot of fun although doesn't quite reach the emotional heights of Spielberg at his best.

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gainsb1 said...

Posted on Aug 24 2011 21:26 A thoroughly enjoyable family film. Great acting from the kids and did you notice that the film definition is definitely NOT HD? Spielberg and co. seem to have made it deliberately "grainy" to capture the 1970's film. Yes, before reading all these reviews I twigged that it was a remake of E.T. but, so what? Lots of films are being re-made and are strikingly similar in plot, characters and script. At least this one has sufficient differences from E.T. to make it enjoyable... and I am 53 years old. Don't analyze this too much, just enjoy it.... even if the ending is a little predictable.

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long cat said...

Posted on Aug 17 2011 19:18 Weak drivel with some irritating kids in it. Every so often Spielberg gets one wrong and sadly despite all the expectations this is one

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roger rabbit said...

Posted on Aug 17 2011 15:30 Without doubt utter bollocks....

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roger rabbit said...

Posted on Aug 17 2011 15:30 Without doubt utter bollocks....

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scotty said...

Posted on Aug 16 2011 08:53 Its a shame that you did not understand the premise here Critique(must have been an entertaining christening). And an asexuul name,so I know not if you are male or female.This entire site is a forum for opinion.So every one is giving their opinion as they see it.As a matter of reinforcing it I chose to say "here are the facts" !! clearly that is in 'my opinion' the very concept is beyond you it seems.the 'fact' i wrote it,in turn purveys my opinion,again,in fact.
So lets be off with you now,and hey,I'm not angry.You wouldn't like me when I'm angry(another movie refference in case you missed it)
Again---------ATTACK THE BLOCK WAS ROTTEN- Suoper 8 was outstanding-Huddlestone will be comparing cowboys and aliens to Dr Who next....

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critique said...

Posted on Aug 14 2011 16:49 scotty - why so angry? And it is NOT "fact" that "Super 8 is the best film since Avatar". It is simply your opinion.

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Nefertiiti said...

Posted on Aug 14 2011 12:40 Lovely move, lovely acting my the kids, lovely action scenes and wow moments. I was on the edge of my seat for half of the movie time. I really enjoyed it and don't think any other movie will top this one this year.

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Jane said...

Posted on Aug 14 2011 11:24 I went with my 81 yr old Mum, my sister and my two early teenage daughters. I really enjoyed it - the banter between the kids is great and the special effects are good - though the alien story line is daft. It is quite scary for a 12A and the kids enjoyed it. The only person underwhelmed was my Mum who said it was 'just okay'. Worth a view I would say.

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scotty said...

Posted on Aug 11 2011 09:35 ATTACK THE BLOCK????????????? SERIOUSLY HUDDLESTONE???? ARE YOU DOING THIS ON PURPOSE-- i bet you enjoyed GIGLI.............THAT FILM (attack the block)WAS A -5 OUT OF 5. YES MINUS FIVE .It was awfull-utter rubbish and served to convince me that our efforts quite rightly so are dwarved by the big USA studio pieces.It infuriates me when critics seek to attack the hollywood machine just to boost their infantile "get me,I'm a critic" credibility with their contemporaries while the rest of us queue up night after night to see the biggies. attack the block was worse than the pretend movie within this film,the super8 real that accompanies the end creditts on 'super 8 _ about zombies(it had better production values-chuckle)'Its ludicrous to suggest that a weak poorly acted jumpy camera unbelieveable nonsense follow up to an episode of torchwood(attack the block)can even be mentioned in the same sentence as one of the finest alien genre movies in years,up there with ID4 E.T. close encounters, war or the worlds. And ofcourse because of the kids, the goonies influence is there too...Here are some facts
1-Amercans are better than us(brits) at blockbusters(thats why our and their mags and blogs are full of them.
2)super 8 is the best film since AVATAR
3) Huddlestone hates money spent on movies assuming that their budget instantly deems them to be inferior 'stories' than low budget dribble
4)if you have an ounce of sentiment and you yearn for feel good action charactor driven movies with great humour and a big monster chucked in-then relax and enjoy 2011's only 5 star film so far...................... attack the block my a**e

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Sutton said...

Posted on Aug 10 2011 13:30 A popcorn movie. There are a number of clichés contained within and it is a film torn between being ET and Aliens, nevertheless, it is a pleasant enough way to spend a couple of hours on a wet Sunday.

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