Super 8
A camera in hand and an alien nearby
The science-fiction genre is so broad that it encompasses many subgenres and even different approaches to the same theme. However, few movies have managed to reach a wider audience like “Super 8” (USA, 2011), directed by “Lost” creator JJ Abrams. Reading the synopsis of this film, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu, wondering if it would be a cross between “The Goonies” (USA, 1985) and “ E. T. – The Extraterrestrial” (USA, 1982). Well, the answer is yes, but there is no harm in that.
Everything is seen through the eyes of Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) a little boy who recently had lost his mother in an industrial accident at the local steel mill. Her death only worsened Joe’s already difficult relationship with his father, Jackson (Kyle Chandler), a dedicated and strict police officer.
In the summer of 1979, just four months after his mother’s death, Joe was increasingly closed to the world, and the only activities he liked to do was to assemble miniatures and help his friend Charles (Riley Griffiths) in an amateur movie that he intended take to a festival. Joe loved movies, especially horror ones, and showed great skill in makeup and special effects.
In the dead of night, Joe, Charles, Martin (Gabriel Basso) and Cary (Ryan Lee) left hidden their homes, to shoot some scenes in the city’s train station. What excited Joe most was knowing that Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning) would also be in the movie.
Everything was going well, everyone rehearsing for the scene that would be filmed when the train passed. What they couldn’t wait for was a truck to appear out of nowhere and crash head-on into the composition, causing a massive disaster.
Two things surprised the children. First, the cause of the accident was an acquaintance of them, the high school science teacher, Mr. Woodward (Glynn Turman). The other thing, absolutely inexplicable, was the monstrous thing that had escaped from a car.
The next day, the small town was filled with US Air Force soldiers. Without giving explanations, not even to the local police, they thoroughly investigated the entire city, collecting all the material that had been spilled in the accident.
To complete the mystery, all dogs of the city fled in terror, and some people also had fade gone without a trace, including the sheriff himself!
For Joe, however, all that mess brought him the opportunity for a friendship with Alice that he would have considered unlikely. The problem is that their respective fathers seemed to hate each other, and both forbade the young couple to meet.
When Joe and Charles unveil the super-8 movie they had used the night of the accident, they realize there was something extremely frightening there. A mysterious creature appeared in the movie fleeing the car and it looked like nothing they had seen before.
The soldiers, commanded by the ruthless Colonel Nelec (Noah Emmerich), tightened their grip more and more, and do not hesitate to start a massive fire just to force the villagers to remain isolated in a barracks while they search for the mysterious being.
When Joe discovered that Alice had been kidnapped by the monster, he and his friends decided to return to the city, now transformed in a true war zone, to find their friend and unravel the mystery. At that point the alien’s true intent will be revealed.
As everything that has the participation of Steven Spielberg, who produced this movie, special effects are phenomenal, especially in the scene of the train disaster. However, what gives this film a special flavor is the rescue and spirit of the 80’s movies, when young adventurers faced dangers and solved mysteries, such as the aforementioned “The Goonies” and “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial”.
The entire film exudes nostalgia, with the BMX bikes, walkman, and the Super 8 cameras themselves, all consumer icons of the time. Super 8 was a film with an 8 mm gauge, aimed at the amateur market, and which allowed the recording of sound along with the image. Just like the old slide, when developed in a laboratory, the film was ready to be shown in a projector.
“Super 8” is a delightful film, suitable for the whole family, and will certainly please both children today as those of the 80’s. A detail important to remember: do not turn off the movie in the beginning of final credits, because there will still be the showing of an entire film, with a surprise ending!