I’m posting this extremely brief mini-review of Super 8 because a few of my Twitter followers were curious to know what I thought of the new film, and the 140-character limit was going to make it difficult.

One thing you should know is that this isn’t The Lives of Others. It isn’t The Godfather. It isn’t Rear Window. It’s a big summer blockbuster. It’s directed by the guy who made the latest Star Trek film, and Cloverfield. But Super 8 is infinitely superior to them in my opinion. Saying summer blockbuster these days makes me think of random action movies and Harry Potter. When I was growing up, it conjured thoughts of Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, ET… in other words I grew up with Speilberg delivering magical blockbusters. They were the types of films all age groups could enjoy, and they really captured the imaginations of everyone who say them. Super 8 constantly reminded me of seeing Speilberg films as a kid. By the way, Speilberg produced Super.

Some people have described Super 8 as a mixture of Stand By Me and ET, but it really reminds me of Close Encounters in ways as well. The Stand By Me comments are because of the cast. The main characters are all kids in Super 8, and they are friggin’ brilliant. I always think using kids is a big risk as it can literally kill a film. Anakin Skywalker in the Phantom Menace was far worse than Jar Jar Binks was. I was very pleasantly surprised by the cast, and these kids will really go places.

For better or for worse, the film can’t easily be placed into a simple genre. Some people have critised the genre-mashing, but for me it made it a little more organic. Real life doesn’t have a single genre at a time does it? Events happen and they can cause all sorts of emotions and experiences. It also meant I never knew exactly where the film was going, which made a nice change. Some scenes could be described as action, and some as horror. I imagine kids will be quite scared by this. I jumped several times, and I don’t even jump at full-on horror movies. Actually, I haven’t jumped in a cinema since I saw Jurassic Park in 1993! I jumped about 5 times, but I wasn’t embarassed because I saw everyone else did as well! It’s a 12A by the way.

So there’s action and horror. It’s also a sci-fi. But what sets it apart from other recent summer blockbusters is the coming of age story. If I have to say what the film is about, I’d say coming to terms with living in a world where really shitty things happen. The emotion in this film isn’t thrown in for the sake of it. The story that drives the whole film is genuinely emotional. It’s a big American blockbuster with explosions and fancy graphics, but around me I could see quite a lot of people crying at various points in the film.

Everyone I know who has seen the film has enjoyed it. Some have said they loved it, others just that it was better than the average summer blockbuster. But among them all the biggest criticism has been the ending, even from those who loved the film overall. I thought the ending was alright, but definitely the weakest point of the whole thing.

Spolier free, the story is that a bunch of kids are working on a super 8 film project and witness a train disastor, accidentally filming something they shouldn’t have. But there are various background stories that drive the whole thing, but I’d rather leave that for when you see the film.

I’d say you will enjoy Super 8 if you loved the older Speilberg classics. If you just want machine guns, fast cars and explosions, this might not be the best film you see this year. You might find it a little boring. If you like mysterious sci-fi with a decent story, then you might enjoy it. The highlights for me included the kid’s performances, the capturing of the time it was set in (1979), and the nostalgia.

Glad I saw it in the cinema.