Super 8 -- Grading and Discussion Thread

[Mr Light]

Perhaps it would have been if the alien was NOT eating people and was just coma-tizing them so they couldn't hurt him. It would have made him more sympathetic, and once they finally realize this, the danger would be from the military napalming them from the sky and not from the alien.

 

[exodus]

Meh. It was OK until the final act. The kids were the best part and the making of their film was fun. The girl especially was fantastic.

But the evil/incompetent military was beyond cliche and dumb. The alien was so stupid looking and such obvious SOD-breaking CGI. We should never have seen what it looked like. It shouid have hidden in the lens flares.

Then to ask me to sympathize with this indestructible ILM reject that slaughters "badguys" and innocents alike (the latter for lunch) and cheer as it heads for home while the dad who's been a dick the whole movie finally hugs his son ... movie ending FAIL. Hey, Mom, this really personal possession of yours? That was salvaged from your broken corpse. Yeah, I'm going to let it be taken by the alien that just destroyed the town and murdered half a dozen townspeople and who knows how many soldiers and airmen. Because it's cathartic. I guess. I don't know. Just go with it. Pretend this is as good as ET.

*Sigh* How could those children not be horrified by the alien EATING PEOPLE?

The simple fact of victimization does not make the victim good or inherently sympathetic. The alien got treated like shit, sure, but its reaction was to murder and eat people. It says it only wants to leave through a mind meld so, I guess that's it, it's telling the truth? It wasn't an advanced scout for an invasion or looking for a light human snack on the way home? It's OK that it murdered townspeople or that the train conductor was murdered by a terrorist (the science teacher) during the train derailment which set it free?

That is why the best line at the end of the film is spoken by Cary: "What?"

to me, the movie had a message of, bad things happen to people. you have to forgive them and move on. thats what the people did, its what the alien did. thats just my take on the whole thing.

Yeah it was but I'd love to see the reaction on the face of an innocent man that's been in prisoned and beaten for years, too forgive the system and just move on.

Do you really tell a father & son that just lost the mother/wife a few months ago, it's time to forgive and move on? Nobody bounces back from a personal death that fast.

That's why the message comes off as a joke upon delievering it to the creature.
The kid in the film didn't buy it, how could the audience?

 

[Agent Richard07]

I found the alien sympathetic despite the carnage, but the kid letting go of the necklace didn't make sense. I know it was supposed to be symbolic, but it was still an odd thing to see.

 

[Trekker4747]

Yeah, letting go of the necklace made no sense. Yes it was supposed to symbolic of the kid "letting go of" the pain he had over the loss of his mother and moving forward in his own life (both he and his dad, I suppose) but at the same time it's still a precious, treasured, memento of his fucking dead mother!

It seemed like it was the lynchpin between the alien ship working and not working as-if there wasn't a couple more ounces of scrap metal or gold laying around that would've been better appropriated as part of the space-ship as opposed to, again, a treasured memento of a child's dead mother!

 

[davejames]

I wasn't as blown away by the movie as others here, but I DID find the moment with the necklace to be a pretty emotional and poignant one.

Even if, like others have said, it doesn't make a ton of sense thematically, I thought visually it was a great little touch.

 

[Agent Richard07]

Yeah, letting go of the necklace made no sense. Yes it was supposed to symbolic of the kid "letting go of" the pain he had over the loss of his mother and moving forward in his own life (both he and his dad, I suppose) but at the same time it's still a precious, treasured, memento of his fucking dead mother!

It seemed like it was the lynchpin between the alien ship working and not working as-if there wasn't a couple more ounces of scrap metal or gold laying around that would've been better appropriated as part of the space-ship as opposed to, again, a treasured memento of a child's dead mother!

Was it made part of the ship? Or was it just attracted by the magnetic field? I thought it was the latter and that he could have gotten it in the wreckage when the whole thing was over.

 

[od0_ital]

Since we're complainin' about the final act of the movie, here's one for y'all to ponder...

...while all sorts of metal objects were gettin' pulled to the water tower, why wasn't the brace-faced kid seizin' on the ground in agony while coverin' his stupid mouth?

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Yeah, letting go of the necklace made no sense. Yes it was supposed to symbolic of the kid "letting go of" the pain he had over the loss of his mother and moving forward in his own life (both he and his dad, I suppose) but at the same time it's still a precious, treasured, memento of his fucking dead mother!

While that probably wouldn't be something most people would give up in the real world, the decision to let go of the necklace makes perfect sense in the "show, don't tell" world of film for the very reasons you lay out above. A caption saying the kid went through years of therapy and eventually overcame his grief over his mother's death doesn't really make for a compelling ending to the film. Whereas symbolizing him coming to grips with her loss and charting his own path (with his father's help) by being able to let go of the necklace conveys the same point simply through visuals and music and makes it that much more poignant.

Anyway, I thought the film was fantastic. I'd give it an "A-"

It definitely struck a nostalgic nerve with me with the models, making bad home movies, late-70s callbacks, and the general freedom to roam you felt as a kid growing up then. Each of those kids embodied traits present in many of my friends growing up.

The child actors all did an outstanding job, with Elle Fanning unsurprisingly (given her family) delivering a starmaking performance. Her acting monologue and the part where she learns how to play a zombie were both great performances worthy of much older and more experienced actors. The lead kid did a great job, as did the kid who was the amateur director.

The movie is not without flaws (the tonal disconnect between the alien eating innocent townfolk it knew were no threat and the shiny-happy E.T. lifts off ending / the story of the two shitty dads barely improving by the end / the military acting stupidly), but those are relatively minor quibbles in an otherwise near-perfect homage to Spielberg's early works.

 

[Saga]

The movie is not without flaws (the tonal disconnect between the alien eating innocent townfolk it knew were no threat and the shiny-happy E.T. lifts off ending / the story of the two shitty dads barely improving by the end / the military acting stupidly), but those are relatively minor quibbles in an otherwise near-perfect homage to Spielberg's early works.

agreed. these are minor problems and don't detract from the movie IMO. it seems that in this age people are too prone to nitpick a movie to death, even if they enjoy it. its just a movie man, relax!

 

[Gaith]

Re: Super **** Grading and Discussion Thread

Here's an interesting blurb I found...

While some people (namely me) are excited for J.J. Abrams' upcoming monster thriller Super 8, the director may have made a marketing error in requesting that visuals and plot points be kept mostly under wraps. It seems the movie, which opens Friday, is not tracking very well, possibly because Abrams has refused to show a glimpse of the film's monster, which is obviously central to the story. So that's what's what nowadays. Nobody wants any mystery, they just want everything shown and explained in the trailer so the movie is just a bigger, longer version of that trailer.

Is Super 8 Too Mysterious?

If it had been obvious from the trailer what the mystery was about, I more than likely wouldn't have gone to see it.

What effing mystery?!

We saw a teaser trailer last summer saying that a train heading to Area 51 derailed, complete with something poking out of an Air Force car.

Even a dumbass now knows: there's an alien in the movie.

A few months ago, we see a trailer in which kids witness the train crash, but their camera keeps rolling. Then, mysterious things start to happen around town. Then, stuff blows up.

Even a dumbass now knows: the kids witnessed the alien escaping, the authorities will be after them for the footage, the mysterious stuff happening around town is due to the alien, which will eventually reveal itself, probably around the climax, blowing stuff up in the process and indirectly teaching the kids valuable life lessons.

Let me simplify...

After seeing the teaser and the first half of the main trailer, even a dumbass now knows the whole damn plot of the movie.

Let me re-ask:

What fucking mystery?!?


(Same thing with Cloverfield. Woo-woo, there's a Godzilla, and it's in NYC for a change! The twist is, we never really see it until the end. Wow! How mysterious! How new! ... Except not at all. Not one damn bit.)

 

[RoJoHen]

I thought this movie was absolutely fantastic. Funny, exciting, dramatic. Yes, it was full of cliches, but I kind of think that was part of the point. I'm very happy I decided to see this last night instead of "Green Lantern."

Perhaps it would have been if the alien was NOT eating people and was just coma-tizing them so they couldn't hurt him. It would have made him more sympathetic, and once they finally realize this, the danger would be from the military napalming them from the sky and not from the alien.

Well, the alien had to eat something to survive.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Thought it was great. I nice homage to the Speilberg films of the 70s. I have to agree that the kids in the cast did a great job, especially Fanning. The period touches rang true. As for the necklace once things started flying I was waiting for the necklace and new it would be symbolic of father and son moving past the mother's death.

 

[Captain Craig]

Grade: A

Just saw this tonight. I was very unsure of this E.T. meets Cloverfield mystery monster movie. I'm glad it turned out good, my first 'surprise' of the summer and that isn't due to lowered expectations. I'd say my feelings going in were indifferent.

They really crafted characters that made you feel like they were friends and schoolmates. Way more than I believed the Green Lantern Corps were soldiers in arms.

A great job was done, as per Cloverfield, of keeping the creature shadowed and partial seen until it's reveal.

The budding romance and tragedy that surrounds the two families was handled quite daftly imo.

This movie gets my "go see it" recommendation.

 

[Mach5]

Just saw it.

I give this movie a solid boring-as-fuck/10.

 

[RoJoHen]

Just saw it.

I give this movie a solid boring-as-fuck/10.

I can't even fathom this reaction.

 

[Mach5]

Just saw it.

I give this movie a solid boring-as-fuck/10.

I can't even fathom this reaction.

JJ Abrams tried to make a Goonies/ET hybrid by excluding the key ingredients that made those movies great: A) interesting, likable characters (all I remember is a boring cardboard-cutout Elliot wannabe and an impossibly annoying fat kid), B) an intriguing plot - Super 8 had none, C) a sense of adventure - zero, D) humour - non existent.

Also, those lens flares sometimes made the footage look damaged. There may have been less of those here, but they actually looked better in Star Trek.

Awful movie.

 

[Harvey]

I could understand the sense of disappointment with the plot, but humor being non-existent? I thought the kids in Super 8 were often hilarious. Their banter was probably the best part of the movie!

 

[RoJoHen]

Whatever you say. I disagree with you 100%. I love the characters, was intrigued the entire time, and found myself laughing throughout almost the entire thing. It's honestly one of the best movies I've seen in a long time, and most people I know agree with me.

Also, I must be immune to lens flares, because I never, ever notice them.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I spotted one lens flare towards the end.

 

[Mach5]

I could understand the sense of disappointment with the plot, but humor being non-existent? I thought the kids in Super 8 were often hilarious. Their banter was probably the best part of the movie!

Uhm, there was only like 30 people in the theatre (me and three of my buddies included), and I don't remember hearing anyone laugh... What part did you find funny
exactly?

I spotted one lens flare towards the end.

WTF? You could play a drinking game with those lens flares.