Me and my wife watched Super 8 last night with her younger brother. I was surprised to find that it was *not* about a motel. We watched it following two Little Caesars $5 hot-n-ready pizzas and about two hours and half a world of multiplayer Super Mario Brothers Wii, so the circumstances under which we watched it are kinda already drenched in a sweet layer of molasses-y goodness. Did this affect the way I watched the movie? Probably. And then we played more Mario afterwards, so really I came away from the experience with this idea that Super 8 was a fantastic film.
I was unsure how I would feel about this movie when we rented it. I'd heard almost nothing about how it actually was, and the only thing I'd gotten from the trailers was that it had the dude from Early Edition in it (which was a plus. I have fond memories of that show). The only thing I had to go off of was the fact that it was directed by J.J. Abrams. This scared me. Abrams also directed Cloverfield, which I hear is such a rush of movement and shaking that it made people sick in the theaters. The other big title he did was Star Trek back in 2009, and that was so awash with lens flares and other related effects that it has given me a headache more than once.
That having been said, I really enjoyed this movie. Not sure if it had something to do with the involvement of Steven Spielberg in the production, but there was something decidedly Goonies-ish about it. That was a huge plus. And come to think of it, there was also an element of ET in there as well. The acting really was phenomenal, the scenes and camera-work were brilliantly designed and executed, and the script was flawless. I loved everything about that, and wonderfully, the shaky camera moments were only during the action scenes, and then were so well done that I didn't notice them until I was specifically paying attention. It was great. There was one critique I had, and not surprisingly it had to do with lens flares. There were some. Not many, but some. And I've come to the conclusion that lens flares can serve to make a dramatic picture more dramatic, but have no place in film.
So there it is. Super 8. More than just a motel. Great film. A great mix of Goonies, ET, and, uh... Alien. Or Godzilla. Some big monster film. So if you haven't seen it, do. Also, Super Mario Brothers Wii. That review pending.
I was unsure how I would feel about this movie when we rented it. I'd heard almost nothing about how it actually was, and the only thing I'd gotten from the trailers was that it had the dude from Early Edition in it (which was a plus. I have fond memories of that show). The only thing I had to go off of was the fact that it was directed by J.J. Abrams. This scared me. Abrams also directed Cloverfield, which I hear is such a rush of movement and shaking that it made people sick in the theaters. The other big title he did was Star Trek back in 2009, and that was so awash with lens flares and other related effects that it has given me a headache more than once.
That having been said, I really enjoyed this movie. Not sure if it had something to do with the involvement of Steven Spielberg in the production, but there was something decidedly Goonies-ish about it. That was a huge plus. And come to think of it, there was also an element of ET in there as well. The acting really was phenomenal, the scenes and camera-work were brilliantly designed and executed, and the script was flawless. I loved everything about that, and wonderfully, the shaky camera moments were only during the action scenes, and then were so well done that I didn't notice them until I was specifically paying attention. It was great. There was one critique I had, and not surprisingly it had to do with lens flares. There were some. Not many, but some. And I've come to the conclusion that lens flares can serve to make a dramatic picture more dramatic, but have no place in film.
So there it is. Super 8. More than just a motel. Great film. A great mix of Goonies, ET, and, uh... Alien. Or Godzilla. Some big monster film. So if you haven't seen it, do. Also, Super Mario Brothers Wii. That review pending.
We were going to see Pirates in the theatre but it was broken. Since we already had a babysitter, we had to do somthing so we saw Super 8. I'd never even heard of it until the lady at the ticket window recommended it. It was great! I think I even prefer it over Pirates (though I haven't seen it yet). I agree with you, very Goonies-esque, very Spielberg.
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