Bill Davis
June 10th, 2011, 12:10 AM
Just got back from a sneek of Super 8.
This is going to be a box office MONSTER this summer.
The Spielberg/Abrams combo embodies BIG DOSES of the magic of Steven's early movies - coupled with just the right amount of the slightly more risky modern approach to movie making that has become Abrams specialty.
Are there flaws? Sure. On reflection, I get that some scenes and effects were lifted nearly intact from other movies that the team either admired or originally created - but even stuff like the obligatory explosion fests sprinkled throughout - were usually bookended with story elements and moments that honestly surprised me.
To my eyes, this is a movie that exceeds the sum of it's parts. Easy to deconstruct and poke at. But if you go early enough before it's main secrets are revealed, you'll find yourself watching something that careens back and forth between large and small, personal and spectacular, fun and threatening - even silly and serious - and that if you enjoy movies at all, Super8's imperfections will be submerged in many, MANY layers of what good movies are all about.
You'll find characters that you'll likely recognize from your own experiences. A time that reads right (if you are old enough to remember the 1970s!) and a story told so engagingly that it seems terribly petty to spend much time poking fun at what Super 8 isn't - when you're having so much fun enjoying what it is.
My 2 cent's anyway.
This is going to be a box office MONSTER this summer.
The Spielberg/Abrams combo embodies BIG DOSES of the magic of Steven's early movies - coupled with just the right amount of the slightly more risky modern approach to movie making that has become Abrams specialty.
Are there flaws? Sure. On reflection, I get that some scenes and effects were lifted nearly intact from other movies that the team either admired or originally created - but even stuff like the obligatory explosion fests sprinkled throughout - were usually bookended with story elements and moments that honestly surprised me.
To my eyes, this is a movie that exceeds the sum of it's parts. Easy to deconstruct and poke at. But if you go early enough before it's main secrets are revealed, you'll find yourself watching something that careens back and forth between large and small, personal and spectacular, fun and threatening - even silly and serious - and that if you enjoy movies at all, Super8's imperfections will be submerged in many, MANY layers of what good movies are all about.
You'll find characters that you'll likely recognize from your own experiences. A time that reads right (if you are old enough to remember the 1970s!) and a story told so engagingly that it seems terribly petty to spend much time poking fun at what Super 8 isn't - when you're having so much fun enjoying what it is.
My 2 cent's anyway.