Review of "Super 8"

3 stars out of 4

"Super 8" is summer entertainment at its best. Suspenseful. Action scenes that aren't just about the action, but more about how the characters are affected. Characters that we can relate to, that aren't two dimensional, and that are developed so that we care what happens to them. It is a film that keeps the audience guessing, but doesn't wait until the final frames to clue us in. We get bits a pieces of the puzzle as we go, and we're allowed to form opinions with enough time left to revise and modify. Perhaps even better, the plot allows the characters to go through the same process.
True to all Spielberg-touched mystery/dramas, we don't see the monster until well into the film. And though Spielberg produced the film and his influence is clear, JJ Abrams wrote and directed, so most of the credit must be placed on his shoulders. The gas station scene in which we first get a glimpse of the monster is directing perfection. Instead of seeing the monster straight on, we see its reflection in a pool of gasoline on the ground. A gas station attendant sees what we want to see - the monster eye-to-eye - and though we get an idea of what is lurking in the shadows, we still aren't fully satisfied, and so the suspense builds. This particular scene reminded me a lot of Jurassic Park. Instead of just waltzing out the T-Rex, Spielberg first showed us the vibrating water. We knew what that little ripple meant. But Spielberg made us wait just a bit longer, letting our imaginations run wild before giving us what we wanted.
The main characters are middle-schoolers, but this isn't a kid's movie. One, Joe, has been visited by the worst of tragedies. Just before he would discover the opposite sex, his innocence was destroyed in a much worse way, and though his strength is clear, he carries an enduring pain in his face. Another, Alice, is more than just the cutest girl in her grade. A new addition to the group, she reveals in a powerful scene within a scene that she has either been forced to deal with issues beyond her age, or she has always hid a deeper disposition behind her pretty face. The other kids, like Joe and Alice, do things kids do. But the train wreck they witness acts as a catalyst to reveal their strengths and their flaws, and instead of seeing a group of irrational children, we see individuals coping like adults, and better than adults in many instances.
Besides the awesome special effects, the well-conceived plot, and the total lack of "gotcha" moments, I was relieved to find a good mystery populated by real people. Some have secrets, prejudices, assumptions, and fears. We suspect that some of the characters have more complicated pasts than we know, pasts that intertwine in substantial ways. And when those suspicions are addressed, they aren't fanciful or illogical. Instead, we're given answers that make devastating sense. Just as life tends to be, the connections are simple and unfair.
Ultimately, Super 8 doesn't aim to deliver any message or principle, and I'm glad for that. We're asked to acknowledge the misguided nature and limits of human beings. But all the while, we watch a select group of people, both young and old, demonstrate the kind of qualities that make us so special. We adapt, and we are open minded. We are courageous, even in the face of the unknown. We are deeply compassionate and have an unfathomable ability to forgive, especially when that forgiveness is desperately needed by another. If the film does have a message, it is that these qualities are not necessarily universal, but that they are universally recognized for their rareness and immeasurable worth.
Super 8 is not a perfect film, and it may well be the second best film of the summer. It has missteps, namely the fact that we are forced to consider unnecessary characters at the expense of being forced to accept the rushed development of important parent-child relationships of the two primary characters. But Super 8 is still a fine film.