'Super 8'

'Super 8'  (PG-13)  (3 1/2 stars)

Writer and Director: JJ Abrams
Starring: Kyle Chandler, Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Ron Eldard, Amanda Michalka, Ryan Lee,
Riley Griffiths, Gabriel Basco, Zack Mills

"Super 8" lovingly takes us back to the childhood action fantasies of the 80's and it is a respectful homage to Steven Spielberg's magical movies of that period. This has a little "Goonies", a little "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and a little "E.T.". It is never a rip off of these movies and starts to find an identity of it's own thanks to writer JJ Abrams and actors like Kyle Chandler and Ron Eldard. It also is very well directed, suspenseful and for once the creature when it is finally revealed didn't dissapoint me.

I love the overlapping dialogue involving the kids which is how real kids talk. Kids don't say something and pause to let another kid talk like they are reading a screenplay. Kids interrupt each other and don't let other kids respond or talk back. I love the performances by all the child actors especially Joel Courtney who plays the lead. He plays Joe who along with his friends shoot Super 8 short films and Joe does the make up. His father Jackson is the local sheriff played by the great and always dependable Kyle Chandler who is giving the best dramatic performance of any actor on television with "Friday Night Lights". He can be that movie star like Michael Keaton and Jeff Bridges (my two favorites)  who are subtle and solid actors who you never see acting.

Jackson does not like Joe hanging out with his friends and their monster make up and foolish movies. The kids are filming a Zombie movie and they witness a train crash which is powerfully directed by Abrams. The movie looks like it is really taking place in the 70's and in that look it lovingly pays homage to one of my favorite Spielberg movies "Close Encounters" and it is a greatly played homage.
I also found the performance by Elle Fanning to be magical and I am looking at an actress that is making a statement. She plays Alice who Joe has a crush on and is playing the female lead in the kid's Zombie movie.   She has given good performances before but here she is mature, careful and graceful and reminds me of a young Jodie Foster. I love the scene where Joe applies make up to Alice and then when Alice is given a direction to cry on film  we see the look of true love all over Joe's face.

'Super 8" has a great look, tells a compelling story with great characters and builds great suspense and terror. It is also beautiful looking and charming and it does well in paying homage to Spielberg's movies without seeming artificial. Some critics have complained that it rips off Spielberg's movies in a shameless way but I totally disagree. I have had a real problem with almost every action, animated, and superhero movie in the last 10 years with their numbing loudness, cluttered and confusing action and little character development. They all end in a jumbled mess and we stop caring about the characters. "Rango", "Kung Fu Panda", "Green Lantern", the Mummy movies, X Men movies, Sorcerer's Apprentice etc. all movies I don't care for at all. "Super 8" takes it's time, builds suspense, develops it's characters, sets a mood, specific time and place and in the end has a simple battle without explosions thrown at us without mercy.

"Super 8" takes us back to that magical era of the 70's and 80's where action movies and fantasies had a clear purpose. A time when movies created wonder, sturdy and likable characters and children who seemed real and talked like real kids did. The movie creates a magical nostalgia that made me feel like I was watching movies like "Close Encounters", "Back to the Future" and "E.T." for the first time. I want to see it again on the big screen with a big tub of popcorn, some twizzlers, a root beer and a full audience. This is miles ahead of any action movie or fantasy geared towards kids in many years. This is a movie for adults and kids and they will all love it equally. I wish more filmmakers would follow it's example and make movies that matter and that don't talk down to the audience.