Super 8

Rating: 5/5

Though I can't say this for sure, Stranger Things most certainly had to be inspired by the style and plot of Super 8. So with that being said, if you are a fan of the wildly popular Netfilx series, than you will definitely love this movie.

Based in 1979, six teenage boys set out to make a zombie movie. One of the boys, Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) is struggling with the recent death of his mother, but is using the film to distract him from his grief. Helping Joe with his loss is Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning). Though she is a new member to the group, Alice seems to understand Joe's feelings more than anyone else.

One night while filming a scene at a train station, the crew witness a train come off the tracks and explode. Fearing for their lives, the group runs from the scene, but don't get far before they realize that the derailment was no accident. By a stroke of bad luck, the kids find themselves stuck in the middle of a government conspiracy, and begin to search for answers.

When I first saw Super 8, I knew very little about the plot, and I think that is the best way of going into it. Knowing too much about the story would spoil the compelling and intense effect the movie has on its' audience. What I can say is that using the boys' film project as a way to propel the story forward was a brilliant idea. With every scene that the kids film for their movie, you are given an extra facet of each child's personality and are also given bits of information about what is going on with the government based storyline of the film.

As it is with movies like the Goonies and Stand By Me, it is important to have a cast that can carry out not only the comical lines, but the scenes with emotional weight to them as well. In Super 8, there are adults throughout the film, but it is definitely the kids that are the main focus. Most notably would be Elle Fanning and Joel Courtney. The emotions they bring to their characters are heartbreakingly real and I will always be in awe of the skill those two brought to the screen.

Science fiction stories can be a hit or a miss with me. If there are too many aspects to the plot that are implausible or far fetched, the movie tends to lose me. Super 8 is able to take a story that is one hundred percent fictional and make it appear believable. What made it work so well is the way it used an intelligent backstory to balance their scifi elements with the real world. Instead of being a movie that was strictly pure fiction, it is a wonderful collaboration of a story about friendship and how far you would go to protect what's important to you.

I remember seeing this film in theaters and immediately falling in love with it. There's always a special quality to a film that is cast primarily with young actors. Whether it be the squeaks of the boys' voices or the memories of your own childhood that the movie may invoke, Super 8 proves that the combination of foul-mouthed teens and nostalgia will always be a winning formula. It is an excellent film that is both entertaining and heartwarming.