****
The achievement of Super 8 isn’t
that it seamlessly blends the minds, and influences, and styles of its two
highly accomplished creators, producer Steven Spielberg and writer/director
J.J. Abrams. Nope, what’s interesting is that up until you see the alien, which
typically falls in the mould of the creatures in other Abrams-related efforts
like Cloverfield and Star Trek, the whole endeavour feels like a
lost Spielberg production from the mid-80s. Like something “The Beard” made
between Poltergeist and The Goonies.
That’s probably a load off Abrams’ mind
because one gets the impression watching Super 8 that the director
wanted to pay tribute to one of the men that inspired him, using Spielberg’s
tools and themes to create something unique, while at the same time being
making it an homage, although that term seems almost dainty when considering
the film.
What did Abrams borrow from Spielberg? The
setting is a quiet Ohio suburb where ordinary kids encounter something extraordinary in
their little hovel hometown. The film’s young protagonist, middle-schooler Joe
Lamb (Joel Courtney), is trying to find common ground with his distant father
just a few months after the accidental death of his mother. Meanwhile, Joe’s
dad Jack (Kyle Chandler), a local sheriff’s deputy, struggles in his new role
as sole parent, trying to connect to a son who’s into things he never was,
creative things like monster make-up and constructing models. Hmm, I wonder who
that sounds like.
But seriously, the distant relationship
between child and single parent is an often visited theme in Spielberg’s work;
like Elliot and his mom in E.T., the robot boy David and his adopted
mother Monica in A.I. Artificial Intelligence or Ray Ferrier and his two
children in War of the Worlds. The occasional tempestuous relationship
between father and son has been explored by Abrams too, through Jack and his
father on Lost, and through the Bishops on Fringe. Like in all
those stories, extraordinary circumstances from an outside force brings parent
and child together again, in the case of Super 8, that’s a military
train carrying an imprisoned alien cross-country.
Abrams uses pure storytelling while
unweaving Super 8. This is not a movie about going from spectacle to
spectacle, although there is spectacle, but it’s a very down-to-earth story
about being a kid, making a movie with your friends, and perhaps realizing the
mortality of yourself and the world and maybe finding peace with it. The film
doesn’t revolve around the escaped creature, it’s just part of the grand
adventure. Again, Abrams uses his typical secrecy to his advantage, and you
barely even see the alien until the last 15 minutes of the film.
Instead we open with a young Joe, sitting
on the swings outside his house, as his mother’s wake goes on inside the home.
Just months later, at the start of summer vacation, Joe helps his friend
Charles (Riley Griffiths) work on a zombie movie along with cohorts Cary (Ryan
Lee), Martin (Gabriel Basso) and Preston (Zach Mills). Charles invites a girl
named Alice (Elle Fanning) to play the part of his lead character’s wife, all
in the name of adding depth to his screenplay, but really, we all know it’s
because Charles likes here. So you can imagine the tension when it becomes
clear that Joe likes Alice, and that she likes him too.
But this isn’t a soap opera, just another
uncomfortable facet of growing up. Abrams gets an incredibly genuine
performance out of his young actors, and that’s another thing he has in common
with his producer. The kids carry this movie and they’re more than up to the
task. evading exploding train wrecks, escaping overturned buses and making
their way through the eventual war zone their neighbourhood becomes. The
military bad guys are palpable villains, especially Noah Emmerich as Col.
Nelec. It’s kind of refreshing to see the U.S.
military treated with that post-Vietnam cynicism and doubt again, it seems
almost antithetical a notion in a post-9/11 world.
Also refreshing is seeing a blockbuster
that can still dazzle while being grounded in reality. Made for a fraction of
the cost of the Green Lanterns and the Transformers of the summer
slate, Super 8 vividly realizes 1979 with cool call backs like Rubik’s
cubes, Walkmans and kids with genuine hobbies like model-making. With the
exception of the alien, there’s barely a whiff of green screen and CGI,
although you know that it’s there. The action never feels overwhelming, and
despite the extraordinary circumstances the characters and the story keep you
invested in the film’s reality.
Even more interesting is that Super 8 finds
the kid in you. It takes you back to simpler days and summer nights when
anything really did seem possible, and that danger, while scary, was still
sought for the adventure it led to. That’s the thing that separates Super 8
and the films of Spielberg’s past with kid-friendly adventures today, the
filmmakers don’t feel the need to talk down to the kids, or try to reach adults
with references to things only they get. Super 8 just is, and what it is,
is the type of summer blockbuster that takes you back to the early-80s, or
takes you there for the first time.
The DVD includes a tremendous commentary by
Abrams, as well as two fascinating featurettes. The first deals with the
development and creation of the creature featured in the film, and the second
looks at Super 8’s origins. It includes stories from the super 8 youth
of Abrams, co-producer Bryan Burk and director of photography Larry Fong, who
all knew each other as teenagers, and how they all first encountered their idol
Steven Spielberg and started working for him while they were still in high
school. That second feature is a can’t miss.
