SUPER 8 is the new movie from JJ Abrams that stars 5 Tween boys and a Tween girl in the movie that looks to have the best explosive train wreck of all time. It makes the plane crash at the end of CON AIR look like a soft landing. If Michael Bay mated with Jerry Bruckheimer, you couldn’t get a more explosive train crash. And the SFX aren’t even complete yet!
About 20 minutes of edited footage from the film were screened for a group of us in Sydney and – it looks good. Shades of STAND BY ME and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS are not copied but those common elements certainly mean SUPER 8 might sit comfortably on a shelf alongside these classics.
Is the ‘Tween ensemble cast in an actioner with a supernatural vibe’ the next happening genre for Hollywood filmmaking? Could be. It may take over the blockbuster spot held for a long time now by the superhero movie. Even thought we have CAPTAIN AMERICA and THE AVENGERS to look forward to, some of us are getting a bit super-heroed out. The characters tend to be cliches and while that genre is at its peak – its no longer breaking new ground. (IRON MAN and THOR are probably the best so far.)
But back to SUPER 8. It has the sexiest car I’ve seen since MACHETE. Elle Fanning is proving to be a talent as strong as her sister Dakota. I liked the chubby teenage filmmaker most – he could be a little Kubrick in the making and despite the 5 guys ratio to 1 girl in the group, the dynamic feels right.
SUPER 8 is about a bunch of kids making movies in the 70s with a Super 8 camera and a train crash that happens while they’re shooting, changes their lives forever. Something in that train escapes. And it appears to be in a very bad mood.
It’s sad to see Super 8 filmmaking go from a domestic staple to a fading artform. Fingers crossed the movie SUPER 8 inspires kids everywhere to want to give filmmaking – on film – a red hot go. There’s a shot of one of the kids ripping open some Kodak Super 8 film stock. I remember that feeling of excitement doing the same thing.
SUPER 8 is in cinemas June 8. I’ll be doing interviews for MOVIE JUICE with the cast and crew at the beginning of June. In the meantime, here’s the trailer: