My first finished attempt at a review, 'of sorts', came about as I was applying for work experience at BBC Films. Sadly, I wasn't offered the place but I loved being given the chance to write a review with a word limit; how I imagine published critics work.
I'd been to see Spielberg/Abrams' collab Super 8 the day before applying, so set to work on the 'short synopsis' (max 100 words) and 'review' (max 200 words).
And here is what I came up with:
‘Super 8’ – J.J. Abrams’ creature feature with a heart.
Following the loss of his mother, 13-year-old Joe (Joel Courtney) and his friends are set on producing a short film, spearheaded by Super-8 obsessive Charles. They enlist the help of ‘pretty girl at school’ Alice (Elle Fanning) on a covert night shoot at Lillian train station. As the film rolls, a military train crashes through their set and so the lives of the town’s people begin to derail. Dogs, microwaves and people surreptitiously go missing, leaving Joe and his motley crew piecing together the events unfolding alongside the onslaught of faceless military defense invading their town.
‘Super 8’s anticipated audience undoubtedly is a composite of those holding onto nostalgia for the Spielbergian era of ‘E.T’ and ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’, mingling with newbie fans of sci-fi thrills in J.J. Abrams most prominent works such as ‘Lost’ and ‘Cloverfield’ respectively. The production serves as a distinct homage to Spielberg’s ‘E.T’; the mise-en-scene simply seventies with a nod to pre-internet geekdom as the audience can intuitively see J.J. Abrams as budding director Charlie and fan of the sci-fi flicks of the Spielberg days. ‘Super 8’s most positive feature is the quality of the child actors, fresh-faced and believable in their betrayal of hapless youngsters caught in amongst things they are yet to understand. Their sense of the unknown intertwined with coming of age and extra-terrestrial concepts, communicating with girls and aliens alike, is interspersed with great nuances of boyish quips and jokes. Nevertheless the crux of the movie is let down by the reveal of the alien; fuelling momentum to Joe’s acceptance of his mothers death but unfulfilling for the audience and fans of the creature flick. J.J. Abrams utilises his favoured technique for revealing glimpses of the unknown, allowing it to disappear almost as quickly as it appears and never allowing the audience their close encounter with the alien kind. Therein follows the letdown; the empathy has been lost and only feebly encouraged through video footage of its plight to return home – for E.T, we would have phoned home.
Final Thought: All in all, Super 8 is definitely worth a watch if you are a fan of Sci-fi or simply in need of a good thrill. It was enjoyable, but not one of those films I'd rush to put in the DVD player.
- Although it must be said, I am developing a bit of a love for Elle Fanning and can't wait to see what she does next.
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