Movie of the Week: Super 8

Wednesday afternoon has come round again and H and I once more took advantage of the Orange Wednesday two for one offer. As usual we head for anything that can be defined as fantasy or science fiction. This week it's Super 8, the subject of many good reviews.

I'm pleased to say that for the most part those reviews are accurate.

The dramatic tension is well drawn out. The cast members (not one of them known to me) are all excellent even the kids, or perhaps I should say especially the kids. If you're worried that Spielberg and Amblin Entertainment are doing a rerun of ET, don't be. This has JJ Abrams involved and it avoids the saccharine superbly. The kids are believably well rounded and nicely acted. The adults in supporting roles, are equally believable.

The premise is that (in 1979) a bunch of American school kids are making an amateur movie and on a clandestine night-shoot by the local railway station they witness a horrendous train smash deliberately caused by one of their teachers. He's injured, but before the rescue services arrive on the scene he manages to warn them not to tell what they know otherwise it will mean death for them and their families.

At this point they don't actually know anything, but within minutes the USAF is all over the site and the kids make a run for it, luckily unidentified. Turns out there was something on that train that the air force is willing to kill for. This turns into a mystery that must be solved combined with a rescue caper, while combatting the evil military and the 'something' which is on the loose and generally pissed off with humankind.

No more spoilers, there's a lot more to it than that, and it's all worth watching. My only slight niggle is that the USAF are shown as uber-extreme and out of control, but if you buy into that for the sake of the movie, there's a lot of tense action and some exciting adventure-heroics with an understated but poignant human story going on beneath it all.

OK, it might not be one for the top ten movies of all time list, but for a Wednesday afternoon in August it was well worth the ticket money.

Movie of the Week: Super 8

Wednesday afternoon has come round again and H and I once more took advantage of the Orange Wednesday two for one offer. As usual we head for anything that can be defined as fantasy or science fiction. This week it's Super 8, the subject of many good reviews.

I'm pleased to say that for the most part those reviews are accurate.

The dramatic tension is well drawn out. The cast members (not one of them known to me) are all excellent even the kids, or perhaps I should say especially the kids. If you're worried that Spielberg and Amblin Entertainment are doing a rerun of ET, don't be. This has JJ Abrams involved and it avoids the saccharine superbly. The kids are believably well rounded and nicely acted. The adults in supporting roles, are equally believable.

The premise is that (in 1979) a bunch of American school kids are making an amateur movie and on a clandestine night-shoot by the local railway station they witness a horrendous train smash deliberately caused by one of their teachers. He's injured, but before the rescue services arrive on the scene he manages to warn them not to tell what they know otherwise it will mean death for them and their families.

At this point they don't actually know anything, but within minutes the USAF is all over the site and the kids make a run for it, luckily unidentified. Turns out there was something on that train that the air force is willing to kill for. This turns into a mystery that must be solved combined with a rescue caper, while combatting the evil military and the 'something' which is on the loose and generally pissed off with humankind.

No more spoilers, there's a lot more to it than that, and it's all worth watching. My only slight niggle is that the USAF are shown as uber-extreme and out of control, but if you buy into that for the sake of the movie, there's a lot of tense action and some exciting adventure-heroics with an understated but poignant human story going on beneath it all.

OK, it might not be one for the top ten movies of all time list, but for a Wednesday afternoon in August it was well worth the ticket money.