Super 8 - The Unknown
June 11th 2011 04:16
RATING 6/10
The small country town with a military infestation is the scene backdrop for J.J. Abram's film Super 8. Set in a small town of Lillian in the state of Ohio, a group of young children witness a horrific train crash. The group of children were filming a short amateur film at an abandon train station when a speeding freight train comes along. As the train speeds past, a truck pulls out into the path of the train, the car crashes head on into the train causes a massive destructive chain of events. The train derails. But it is no ordinary train, someone or something was unleashed.
From here the story takes off with a town being ravaged by an unknown 'thing'. J.J. Abram's writing takes on the form of his successful television series Lost, with a lot of similar traits from the show. The suspense of not knowing or understanding fully what was in the train is what holds the audience's attention however, the lack of story and the predictability of the sequence of events quickly evaporates any sort of interest.
Steven Spielberg brings some quality production value to the film and the great train derailment is epic and loud and was the best part of the movie.
The military involvement once again is a signifier of our government hiding secrets from the the ordinary citizens. Trying to cover mistakes that might lead to global panic. One positive attribute of the film is the involvement of children as the main characters. Using the children as heroes creates a new dimension in action film. There is more empathy towards the children as they are suppose to represent innocence but yet here they are in the middle of some unbelievable situations making decisions and preforming actions beyond their years. The children play basis for great character development of other supporting actors, who are all adults.
The film is visually engaging and the score gives it a suspenseful aspect however, the ending seems to fall flat. It is the unknown of our greatest fear that causes us to watch on, and this is exactly what the film does.
The small country town with a military infestation is the scene backdrop for J.J. Abram's film Super 8. Set in a small town of Lillian in the state of Ohio, a group of young children witness a horrific train crash. The group of children were filming a short amateur film at an abandon train station when a speeding freight train comes along. As the train speeds past, a truck pulls out into the path of the train, the car crashes head on into the train causes a massive destructive chain of events. The train derails. But it is no ordinary train, someone or something was unleashed.
From here the story takes off with a town being ravaged by an unknown 'thing'. J.J. Abram's writing takes on the form of his successful television series Lost, with a lot of similar traits from the show. The suspense of not knowing or understanding fully what was in the train is what holds the audience's attention however, the lack of story and the predictability of the sequence of events quickly evaporates any sort of interest.
Steven Spielberg brings some quality production value to the film and the great train derailment is epic and loud and was the best part of the movie.
The military involvement once again is a signifier of our government hiding secrets from the the ordinary citizens. Trying to cover mistakes that might lead to global panic. One positive attribute of the film is the involvement of children as the main characters. Using the children as heroes creates a new dimension in action film. There is more empathy towards the children as they are suppose to represent innocence but yet here they are in the middle of some unbelievable situations making decisions and preforming actions beyond their years. The children play basis for great character development of other supporting actors, who are all adults.
The film is visually engaging and the score gives it a suspenseful aspect however, the ending seems to fall flat. It is the unknown of our greatest fear that causes us to watch on, and this is exactly what the film does.
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