Film reviews
Men In Black 3
It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.
Bel Ami
The excellent female support cast saves this patchy effort, which is let down by its leading man and a flat screenplay.
The Dictator
A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.
The Woman In Black
Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.
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Super 8 (Film)
Rating: M
Running Time: 112
Country: USA
Cast: Noah Emmerich , Ron Eldard , J.J. Abrams, Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, Amanda Michalka
Distributor: Paramount
Release Date: June 09, 2011
Film Worth: $17.50
FILMINK rates movies out of $20 - the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worthWhile it wears its cinematic influences on its sleeves, this is a true original, creating a world that feels utterly real, exciting and wonderfully nostalgic.
Super 8 is the cinematic equivalent of a sweet, fresh breeze. In something of a first for 2011, this big-hearted meld of teen angst and sci-fi fury is a big budget blockbuster based on - gasp! - an original idea. That's right, Super 8 is not a sequel, prequel, reboot, remake, comic book adaptation or an old TV show revamped for the big screen...it's, yes, all new.
While many of the year's reheats and adaptations have admittedly been exceptional films (the beyond-compare True Grit and X-Men: First Class, for instance, both fit into this category), there's still something undeniably invigorating about a completely new idea. Sure, Super 8 reverberates with many obvious filmic influences (most of them courtesy of the film's producer, Steven Spielberg), but it's a true original, and that's worth celebrating in and of itself. The fact that it's a true original dosed with charm, feeling, excitement and meaning makes it even more exciting.
Practically brandishing his tattered old VHS copies of The Goonies, Stand By Me and E.T: The Extra Terrestrial like evidence exhibits, writer/director J.J Abrams (who continues to build on his reputation as a true entertainer after Mission: Impossible III and Star Trek) sets Super 8 in the late seventies, and peoples it with the kind of realistic, believable young teenagers that are all too rarely seen on screen these days.
At the centre of the action is Joe Lamb (exceptional newcomer Joel Courtney, who is a wonderfully sweet and empathetic screen presence), a good kid dealing with the death of his mother, and a now distant, decent but basically unqualified dad (the excellent Kyle Chandler). More interested in creating the special effects for his best friend Charles' (Riley Griffiths) home-made horror film than traditional pursuits like baseball, Joe's life gets even more complicated when he falls for the beautiful Alice (Elle Fanning, exhibiting the same kind of eye popping emotional transparency as her gifted sister, Dakota)...and witnesses something inhuman crawl out of the train crash that nearly destroys the production of their movie.
With his previous films, J.J. Abrams displayed a real talent for mixing action with character-based storytelling. Super 8 sees him push that even further, with highly impressive results. His nostalgic depiction of a seventies steel-town is sentimental without ever being cloying, while his understanding of the mindset of young teens (whose hormones are just beginning to stutter and spark) is surprisingly complete.
Abrams' kids are likeable and cheer-worthy, so when they start to feel the heat from the creature that crawls out of the demolished train - and the military forces that want it back - the audience is with them every step of the way. With his pithy screenplay zinging with one-liners and inventive lingo, Abrams makes his teen universe a wholly entertaining one.
His real skill, however, comes with the way in which he so imaginatively stitches that together with a big, exciting barrage of sci-fi, complete with explosions, suspense and a finely realised monster. In lesser hands, Super 8 could have become confused and disconnected, but Abrams makes it all sing together beautifully. It's a genre mash-up of the first order, and while nostalgic and reminiscent of so many films that have gone before it, Super 8 has an energy and emotional kick all of its own.
