4 Stars: Something wicked this way comes

There are some things in this world that  humanity was never meant to  understand, never meant to  find out the truth, never meant to  grasp the reality of something more than the world  that we have built for ourselves and the prefabricated lies that we have been feed to make us believe the singular truth. The one all consuming truth that  in this world, in this universe we are the only life that exist, we are the only thing that lives and that Earth, our home  is the only planet in this universe that can sustain life. Now let me as you this, what if the prefabricated truth that you have always believed turned out to be the lie that you so   justly dismissed. What if the lies were the truth and the truths were the lies, what if everything you thought about there being life out there in the universe was right. What if the truth about all of this was not only within your reach, but also in your own backyard, the answers to these questions may seem insurmountable or even irrefutable at best but to find the truth you first must have to find your belief in the truth, because the truth is never what is seems and the lies are always what they appear to be.


As the lights dimmed in the theater at my viewing of J.J. Abrams' new Science-Fiction film "Super 8,” I didn't know what to expect. I had heard very little chatter about this mysterious film and knew little to nothing about its story which was shrouded in mystery so with my limited knowledge I walked into this film blind, not knowing what to expect, and as I sat there marveling in the  beauty and grandeur of this spellbinding and hypnotic film. I realized that not knowing what to expect made the experience all the more extraordinary. J.J. Abrams(Lost , Alias, Fringe, Star Trek) has crafted a touching, wonderful and gorgeous tribute to small town America and  to the great  classic summer blockbuster's of   Steven Spielberg  namely "Close Encounters of The Third Kind",  "Jaws" and "E.T. : Extraterrestrial". "Super 8" evokes a sense of time and place  when things were a little simpler and people were not as hostile or as violent as they are today,  it evokes the  small town appeal present in  many Capra  and Spielberg   films. The kind of small town appeal where everyone knows each other by name, where the people are friendly and the skies are as blue as the ocean. This is a film for the film lover inside of all of us, a true film that is not only frightening, emotional, action packed and humorous but has the scope of and ideals of films from the Golden Era that have been lost on most modern filmmakers. The  emotional depth of this film is what  makes it the most shocking, it took me by surprise because naturally I did not expect those kinds of feelings to be present in a film with such an obvious  premise,  this at its surface is and foremost a monster movie. If you walk in expecting some big budget, over the top, shoot'em up than I must kindly point you in the direction of Mr. Michael Bay because this is not the film for you.” Super 8" is a film with a heart, with a soul it just doesn't go for the action it goes for something much more meaningful and deep, it makes a connections with its characters that the audience can feel, can understand. The characters are not just in service of the plot and the special effects but rather the special effects and the plot are at the service of the characters, and what fine characters they are at that. J.J. Abrams has surpassed all that he has done before  to create and  affectionate and heartfelt as well as scary  Sci-Fi drama/thriller  that not only pays homage to classic films but also proudly flaunts its humanitarian ideals on how  even a creature form another world should be treated as an equal.


What I found most profound is how this film was skillfully able to balance the thrills with the human drama. So many films these days try and fail miserably to balance the human complexity within their story with the hard, edgy thrills and chills of its  plot most films try and most of the time they fail, mainly due to the fact that they are more focused on the  thrills and chills instead of the human condition of the characters. "Super 8" balances all three with sure hands, intelligence, and grace; this film takes pride its story, in its characters and most importantly in itself. This film takes joy in its story and in bringing it to life; it just does not go through the motions like most films of recent years. This is a movie made by an intelligent man who not only knows what movie making is about but understands it is more than  just special effects, beautiful women, big explosions and loud action sequences. It's about the plot, the story and the characters and Abrams knows this, he knows that movies can not all be just superficial they have to have some life to it, they have to have a heart a soul to call it's own and "Super 8" has a rather large heart that is three sizes bigger than it should be and all through out this affectionate production it shows its love for the cinema, Spielberg and for life, whether it be human or not.



Joel Courtney turns in a strong performance as Joe Lamb the obligatory geek who has to step up to the plate and become the savior of his hometown. Courtney shows much potential as the hero of this story and while he may lack depth as an actor due to his age he shows strong potential throughout that, he may become a fine actor one day. Courtney gives some added innocence and childlike delight to a rather dark film, his  presences is a reminder of that of Henry Thomas' Elliot  from Spielberg's timeless classic "E.T. ", and while "Super 8" in its way feels like "E.T." it has the distinction of having a hero who is as brave as he is selfless. Courtney's Joe is a brave, smart, shy, and geeky eleven-year-old boy who is somewhat of an outsider amongst the other kids of the town, mainly due to his father being a deputy in the local Sheriff's office. Joe is a more complex character than you would think, he just does not run around in service of the plot, he is an integral part of the plot; he is what makes the story what it is. Without a strong lead performance, this film would have fallen apart at the seams and disintegrated into a regular old monster film. Thanks to him and strong supporting work from a young cast elevates "Super 8" to greatness that would have been lost on it if in other less talented hands. The rest of the cast including Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard, Noah Emmerich, Riley Griffiths, Elle Fanning, Zach Mills, Ryan Lee and Gabriel Basso all turn in stellar supporting work in this masterful Science-Fiction tale.





"Super 8" is not only one of the first great films in many a summer, but it is one of the best Science-Fiction films to come out in the last  ten  years. This bold, big, and heartfelt film has the feel of an indie gem fused with the technological wizardry of modern day filmmaking to create a masterpiece that not only evokes the classics films of old, but also sets itself firmly as one of Sci-Fi's best and brightest films. A true testaments to how the genre is suppose to be done.