J.J. Abrams' Super 8 aims to take you back to the days of alien classics such as E.T and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. And for the most part, it succeeds admirably.
If the director (Abrams is behind Lost and Cloverfield) and previews are any indication, you might be expecting the secret behind whatever is terrorizing the people in Super 8 to be the driving force of the film. But, to my surprise, the mystery only really plays a part in the first 45 minutes or so. The "thing" is revealed fairly early and there is no doubt as to what it's intentions are. This definitely threw me off guard, as when the first trailers were being shown, many people were accepting this as a sort of spiritual successor to Cloverfield, a film that never quite reveals it's secrets.
Once you get over that, however, you can enjoy Super 8 for what it is: a spirited adventure with great characters. I was a bit worried when I first saw the previews and noticed that it was mostly kids in the main cast, and it's tough to find kid actors who can really act, especially in something as big as this. But my fears were alleviated early on, as the kids here actually do a really nice job. Their interactions are the driving force of this film, not the "monster".
Super 8 definitely wears it's inspirations on it's sleeve (The executive producer Steven Spielberg's name is all over the promotion of the movie), and it actually did bring back memories of the great alien titles from the 80s and 90s for me. Maybe it could of used some restraint in revealing the identity of it's monster, but there's plenty here to warrant the price of a movie ticket.
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