I made a super 8 movie once. While it didn’t quite have the passion, the style, the talent, the art, the theme, the writing, the action or the passion of the 2011 hit Super 8 … wait. Where was I? Oh yeah. I made a super 8 film once. Once. It was 1979 and I was in 5th grade. I played a cat. My performance was … unexceptional. My group lacked a director, but I doubt that Steven Spielberg would have gotten quality out of our hodgepodge. My film had a treasure hunt theme; I can honestly say I looked suitably pleased upon obtaining the “treasure,” an Eskimo Pie from the school vending machines. Unlike this Super 8, I have no desire to see my film again.
Do you ever feel like somebody is making a movie just for you? Here’s Super 8, the critique to the film where I played a cat. And it’s about That Darn Time.
There is a ten minute segment in the J.J. Abrams film that I will treasure above all others in 2011. Let me set it up: The genius of Super 8 is the smooth collection of four realities – the mock reality of the super 8 zombie film our heroes make, the reality of the kid world which involves kid concerns like making a super eight film and falling for a girl, the more serious reality which involves parents and responsibility and death, and the supernatural reality in which a destructive alien has escaped into a small community.
The year is 1979 (?!). Our protagonist is a young teen named Joe (Joel Courtney). He loses a mother in the opening credits. Sucks. He and his friends are making a film for a contest. For the sake of the student film reality, Joe’s buddy Charles (Riley Griffiths), the director, needs a remote location and a girl. He kills two birds with one stone by selecting Alice (Elle Fanning) who can drive, and, by-the-way is Joe’s would-be girlfriend if he can just figure out how to talk to her. With Alice at the wheel of the cruiser hoarked from daddy, the crew goes to the local train depot for some midnight filming. Despite the hour, they’re too young for snuff or porn, aw. Charles has his actors go through lines and we get to see Alice’s acting chops for the first time. –And she is jaw-dropping good– So good, in fact, the scene transcends to a higher reality. Take a bird’s eye view and you see level one reality: silly super 8 zombie film, level two reality: kid concerns, the making of the 
movie and Joe’s love interest suddenly promoted to interesting, level three reality: the teens broke curfew and stole a car to shoot the scene; parents would be pissed. And Elle’s reading goes beyond all levels to a surrealism that not only captures your attention, but immediately paves the way for the action sequence of the year, a train crash you should have caught on the big screen because no small one can do it justice. This is awesome filmmaking.
You know what’s funny? Train crashes featured huge in two 2011 films. One, Super 8, is among the best of the year. The other, Atlas Shrugged: Part I, is among the worst. The handling is the key, of course. Super 8 made the crash the centerpiece of an elegant feast. Atlas Shrugged treated its train crash as one treats complimentary breadsticks at a slophouse.
A great deal has been made about the popularity of Super 8 being a throwback. There’s no question the film looks, and is intended to look, like E.T. – late 70s styles, alien encounter in a small community, government guys take over, but the action remains with the teens. I will admit a fondness for being the exact right age as if I could have been part of this alternative reality at the time. But when you think about it, do you really care about the precisely-tied anachronistic feel of the film? I remember the late 70s. People couldn’t get enough ridicule of disco, bell-bottoms, feathered hair and the political scene. The style of the time was so poor that the ashes of the era gave rise to unbelievably pithy and condescending catch-phrases like, “where’s the beef?” and “just say ‘no’.” Upon reflection, I contend the look of Super 8 holds little value; we loved the movie simply because it was a good movie.
Rated PG-13, 112 Minutes
D: J.J. Abrams
W: J.J. Abrams
Genre: Blockbuster
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Summer moviegoers
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: E.T. haters
