Super 8 - A True Throwback!

This past weekend I was able to catch Super 8, the new movie by J.J. Abrams and produced by the great Steven Spielberg.  It felt like I’d stepped back into the 1980’s as the movie has that Goonies/Stand by Me/E.T. vibe.  J.J. Abrams pays homage to Spielberg in a great way because the movie screams 80’s Spielberg.  It had it all, the story that’s focused on the kids, the messy home life scenes, the setting, the lighting and the late monster reveal.

Overall I thought the movie was fantastic though some late third acts scenes had some plot holes I can forgive them because the movie as a whole was so good.  The nostalgic feel to me was the most important aspect of the movie.  In today’s movie market you hardly see a “smart” movie with kids aged 10-13 as the leads.  Generally it’s either late teenagers or older getting the main focus of movies.  Here the kids are 12-13 years old and their acting is superb.  Dialogue that was spot on and although it’s a far fetched idea, it still seems grounded in reality, much like E.T. and Goonies.

I brought my six year old and he too absolutely loved it.  Though, I’ve trained him by reliving all of my favorite 80’s movies over and over again with him.  In fact, some of his favorite movies are my favorites (Stand by Me, The Goonies and Sandlot).  The problem is, I wonder how late teens and early twenty year olds are viewing this movie, the 16-23 demographic for example.  They are a bit too old to remember these classics and with movies nowadays being vastly different, I wonder what they thought of it.  These days, movie patrons are treated to a full-on-shot of the monster 15 minutes into a movie or even before in the trailers.  How are these impatient high school and college kids reacting to having to wait and sit through some excellent character development before getting their monster fix?

If you have a chance to see it, DO IT!  Especially if you grew up watching those classic 80’s movies and miss them as much as I do.  Maybe it’s me but I don’t think we’ll ever get movies like those again.  Though seeing Super 8 has me optimistic, maybe these types of movies will make a comeback.  I sure hope so because there’s nothing like that feeling.