Heart, but no soul

  • By Robert Horton Herald Movie Critic
  • Friday, June 10, 2011 12:01am
  • Life

If some of Steven Spielberg’s productions in the ’70s and ’80s were fondly remembered odes to childhood, “Super 8” adds an extra degree of separation: It’s like a fondly remembered ode to a Steven Spielberg movie about childhood.

Produced by Spielberg and written and directed by J.J. Abrams, “Super 8” is a clever idea that ought to be much more fun than it is. It’s so drenched in the look and mood of Spielberg’s world that it seems to forget to speak in its own voice.

The year is 1979 and the setting is small-town America. Some kids are making a Super 8 movie, that now-archaic film format eclipsed by the ease and affordability of video.

Our heroes have their camera running when a train crashes nearby. (A train is a now-archaic form of transportation — oh, never mind.) The camera inadvertently captures the sight of a very strange creature getting out of the wreckage. Sure enough, something wicked this way comes.

When weird things begin happening in town, it’s up to the kids (of course) to sort everything out. Sounds like a fun starting point for a summer movie, as Abrams (director of the “Star Trek” reboot and creator of TV’s “Alias” and “Lost”) deliberately tries to summon up the indicators of early Spielberg: wide-eyed wonder, parental loss, funny kid behavior.

The central character is Joe (Joel Courtney), who lives with his grief-stricken father (Kyle Chandler) in the wake of Joe’s mother’s death. Joe is thrilled when his buddy Charles (Riley Griffiths of Issaquah), a movie brat and budding Spielberg himself, casts secret crush Alice (Elle Fanning) as the love interest in their absurd movie project.

The trick for this kind of movie, as Spielberg understood, is to play the authentic concerns of childhood against the larger, fantastical spectacle going on in the background.

Abrams is a clever guy and he works hard to get this quality. Adolescent viewers may well find a satisfying adventure here and the young actors are an agreeable bunch.

Having acknowledged that, I will say that I found “Super 8” to be mostly a cardboard experience. Maybe Abrams is so intent on recapturing that early-Spielberg vibe, which will be recognizable to anybody who grew up with Spielberg’s movies on endless VHS repeat, that he skates across the surface of his own original story.

“Super 8” isn’t “The Goonies,” which I am grateful for. But it only rarely catches the magic it wants.

However, stick around for the end credits. As they play, we get to watch a true Super 8 marvel that provides more fun than all the movie’s digital effects put together.

“Super 8”

Adolescents will enjoy the monster-movie adventure here, but director J.J. Abrams is so busy paying homage to the golden age of Steven Spielberg childhood movies that he skates over the surface of his own original story. Spielberg himself produced this tale, which follows a group of budding small-town moviemakers in 1979.

Rated: PG-13 for violence

Showing: Alderwood mall, Cinebarre, Everett Stadium, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Stanwood, Meridian, Metro, Thorton Place, Woodinville, Cascade Mall

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Photo courtesy of Graphite Arts Center
Amelia DiGiano’s photography is part of the “Seeing Our Planet” exhibit, which opens Friday and runs through Aug. 9 at the Graphite Arts Center in Edmonds.
A&E Calendar for July 10

Send calendar submissions for print and online to features@heraldnet.com. To ensure your… Continue reading

Snohomish County Dahlia Society members Doug Symonds and Alysia Obina on Monday, March 3, 2025 in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
How to grow for show: 10 tips for prize-winning dahlias

Snohomish County Dahlia Society members share how they tend to their gardens for the best blooms.

What’s Up columnist Andrea Brown with a selection of black and white glossy promotional photos on Wednesday, June 18, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Free celeb photos! Dig into The Herald’s Hollywood time capsule

John Wayne, Travolta, Golden Girls and hundreds more B&W glossies are up for grabs at August pop-up.

The 2025 Audi A3 premium compact sedan (Provided by Audi).
2025 Audi A3 upgradesdesign and performance

The premium compact sedan looks sportier, acts that way, too.

Edmonds announces summer concert lineup

The Edmonds Arts Commission is hosting 20 shows from July 8 to Aug. 24, featuring a range of music styles from across the Puget Sound region.

Big Bend Photo Provided By Ford Media
2025 Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend Increases Off-Road Capability

Mountain Loop Highway Was No Match For Bronco

Cascadia College Earth and Environmental Sciences Professor Midori Sakura looks in the surrounding trees for wildlife at the North Creek Wetlands on Wednesday, June 4, 2025 in Bothell, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Cascadia College ecology students teach about the importance of wetlands

To wrap up the term, students took family and friends on a guided tour of the North Creek wetlands.

Mustang Convertible Photo Provided By Ford Media Center
Ford’s 2024 Ford Mustang Convertible Revives The Past

Iconic Sports Car Re-Introduced To Wow Masses

Kim Crane talks about a handful of origami items on display inside her showroom on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Crease is the word: Origami fans flock to online paper store

Kim’s Crane in Snohomish has been supplying paper crafters with paper, books and kits since 1995.

The 2025 Nissan Murano midsize SUV has two rows of seats and a five-passenger capacity. (Photo provided by Nissan)
2025 Nissan Murano is a whole new machine

A total redesign introduces the fourth generation of this elegant midsize SUV.

A woman flips through a book at the Good Cheer Thrift Store in Langley. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Pop some tags at Good Cheer Thrift Store in Langley

$20 buys an outfit, a unicycle — or a little Macklemore magic. Sales support the food bank.

Kathy Johnson walks over a tree that has been unsuccessfully chainsawed along a CERCLA road n the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest on Thursday, July 10, 2025 in Granite Falls, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
How Roadless Rule repeal could affect forests like Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie

The Trump administration plans to roll back a 2001 rule protecting over 58 million acres of national forest, including areas in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie area.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.