Super 8- review

Keep the change ya filthy animal.

           Without revealing too much about “Super 8” I can say at least it is okay.  The characters are well acted at least and the movie seems competently put together.  But like most mediocre movies that come out these days there are things about it I like and things about it that I don’t like. J.J. Abrams is a great director.  I think we’ll see really wonderful stories from him.

            First off let’s talk about what is good.  Like I mentioned the acting is good. For the most part we are watching young kids act in a seventies backdrop during a small town terror.  That calls for a pretty good bit of range.  The person that really shined was Elle Fanning.  Younger sister of Dakota, whom I think we will be seeing a lot more from if she continues to turn in performances like this. 

My God! So many lens flares.

            As for the negative, it is really mostly nitpicking.  For example: Why the hell is Abrams using lens flares in his shots so often?  He did this in “Star Trek” too.  It’s like he enjoys blinding the audience.  The other issue I have is that the alien menace itself is almost a direct rip-off of the Cloverfield monster.  I sort of expected some sort of originality here upon coming into this but was disappointed.  Plus, with the strength and incredible abilities the alien has it seems to really stupid to assume that it couldn’t have left anytime it wanted.  Or even that it was caught in the Area 51 crash site for that matter.

            That aside there are multiple instances where characters should have been killed or maimed horribly in ways that are too numerous to describe but for reasons I can’t comprehend they can remain relatively unscathed.  I do like how a person can bathe with an object that sets off a Geiger counter with no ill effects.  That seems smart. 

For the last time.  No, I am not a young Don Johnson.

            Still, nitpicking aside it’s not the worst thing out there.  It’s at least got some likeable characters doing likeable things and you don’t want any harm to come to them.  That is somewhat rare in today’s movies.  It also has a really decent soundtrack for whatever that is worth.  Personally I think it might be a better matinee or a renter.  But it is at least worth seeing if you are a fan of other J.J Abrams movies.