SIP Movie Review Blog

Finally a decent movie, actually an outstanding movie. One to start the summer with, I’m referring to Super 8, starring a gaggle of youth who are putting together a home movie. Joel Courtney (brand new) leads off as the hero, so to speak. We also have Ryan lee (Trick or Treat, Shorts) as a pyromaniac, Zach Mills (Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium) a movie set assistant, Riley Griffiths (new) the movie producer, Gabriel Basso (Alabama Moon, The Big C) the leading man in the home movie, and Elle Fanning (Yes, Dakota’s sister, has been in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Déjà vu) as the leading lady in the home movie. We also have some adults, Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights, King Kong), Ron Eldard (Blackhawk Down, House of Sand and Fog) and Joel McKinnon Miller (Big Love, Men in Black 2).

First, about that home movie the kids are working on. There is some kind of contest, so they are working hard to win it. Their movie is a Zombie movie, Gabriel is a detective who is working on solving murders around a chemical plant, his wife is Elle, who becomes a Zombie. That’s all you need to know, here is how it fits in. The young movie makers are filming at night at a train station, and witness a huge derailment. Turns out one of their school teachers caused the wreck, and gives them a clue. He says not to say anything, because they will kill you and your family. Ouch!

Joel’s dad (Kyle) is the small town in Ohio’s deputy sheriff. His wife dies in a terrible accident, she was working in the local steel mill subbing for another worker, Elle’s dad, played by Ron Eldard. He is the town drunk, and Kyle feels like if he had been at work, his wife would still be alive. And of course Joel is in LOVE with Elle, she is the focus of his world. His dad is not happy about him seeing her, tells him to stay away. He ain’t gonna do it.

So when the train crashes, and it is a grand crash scene, things start to go south. We first see something banging on the rail car, trying to get out. Then we hear from the school teacher who caused the wreck, forget that you saw it, they will kill you. Sort of freaky. The next few days, all the dogs from town end up in a town far away. Like they ran away. OK, so they ran away. We have several spooky scenes with the sheriff, a 7/11 employee, some other locals getting taken away. And stuff is destroyed. Like the sheriff’s car, crushed. Then all the appliances in town disappear, along with a bunch of car engines. The electricity goes out, getting weird in here.

Our kids are still trying to make the movie, but it is a lot harder to focus. When they were at the train wreck, they were filming a key scene. So they left the camera running and they took off running. Now they realize they have film yet to be developed, it may have a clue. It does, and what a clue. Not gonna spoil it, but it involves the Air Force, Area 51, all kinds of stuff. The Air Force moves into town, shuts it down. Then evacuates everyone out to the base, start a burn to get rid of something. So here ya go, Spoiler Alert!! Don’t read any further if you don’t want to know things…

Actually, most everyone has seen the previews, and they sort of hint at the problem. The Air Force has captured an alien, and have kept him a long time. So they are moving him, and the train wreck freed him up. And he is unhappy. And very strong, fast, and extremely smart. All bad things when you are up against something you have never seen before. He manages to knock out all electrical power, including the controls on the tanks that the military brings into town to take him out. He is large and in charge. You actually find yourself rooting for this outer space thing, cause our military have treated him so bad. Not sure why I call it a him, he just seems to be male. Although we saw in Alien the females can be feisty too.

The alien is mean, and now is on the hunt. He finds the military guys who first put him in a cage, and it don’t go well for them. Guns have no effect, he is somewhat bullet proof. It is pretty intense, because the kids are in the back of the bus the alien attacks, but they get out safely.

The kids manage to escape and run back into town, now they are on to the accident-causing teacher who left behind some clues. When they find his stash, the movie goes into overdrive. The military is chasing them, the sheriff’s deputy is on the hunt, and Elle has been taken. How and why I can’t say, I can guarantee that it gets pretty tense about the middle of the movie. Then it gets worse.

So JJ Abram is the director, and Steven Spielberg the producer, a real heavyweight team. JJ Abram has a background of suspense, he bought a mystery box in a magic shop when he was a kid, he still has it, still unopened. Still a mystery. Spielberg made movies as a teen-ager, he started out young, and still loves the projects with kids involved. Think Goonies.

The sound is outstanding, should get an award. The story is excellent. Your mom will not like it, pretty loud and scary. Not only that, there are some language opportunities, the young kids have potty mouths. Guess that happens in real life. But the story is moving, and one of taking chances for the right reasons, a great message. I will go with 4.5 space ships, one of the best this year. So if you stay for the credits, you will see the zombie movie put together by the kids. Called The Case, it is pretty good, looks as if it has been filmed in Super 8. A nice finish.