Super 8 Review - Pranjal Jately

Wednesday 19th October 2011

Super8 review        

Director: J.J. Abrams

Writer: J.J. Abrams

Stars: Elle Fanning, Joel Courtney and Kyle Chandler

Genres: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Release date: 5 August 2011 (UK)

Age rating: 12A

Runtime: 112 min

Steven Spielberg, born on December 18th 1946 in Ohio, U.S.A., aged 64, is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, a video game designer as well as being a co-founder of Dreamworks . He has been a producer for over 120 titles, starting back from 1978 to current date and still ongoing.  In 1978, he first acted as executive producer in a film called I Wanna Hold Your Hand and from then has gone on to produce many other films that have won him the Award for Best Director for example Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). Three of his films, Jurassic Park, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Jaws all broke box office records becoming the highest grossing film made at the time. His latest film to hit the big screen is The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn and many more films such as Men in Black III and War Horse are still in production due to released in 2012.

The main stars of the film were Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, and Kyle Chandler.  Joel Courtney (Joe Lamb) born January 31, 1996 (aged 15) will not be familiar with most, if not all, viewers as Super 8 was his first film which he earned his way into by taking auditions, in which he had 11 call backs before he earned his role. I believe hMary Elle Fanning (Alice Dainard) born April 9, 1998(aged 13), may be recognised by a few of the members from the audience from Daddy Day Care (2003) and her more recent appearance as Daisy in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). Kyle Martin Chandler (Jackson Lamb) born September 17, 1965 (aged 46) is an actor who specialises in adventure films and started his acting career from 1988. Kyle Martin Chandler could be recognised by more than a handful of the audience members, as I myself recognised him as Bruce Baxter from the film King Kong (2005), the other recent film the members of the audience may have recognised him for is John Driscoll from the film The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008).

Super 8 is a film set in the summer of 1979 in the town of Ohio where a group of friends witness a train crash which they find out was not an accident whilst making a super 8 mm film, the film starts of in equilibrium. They discover a strange white cube shaped object, which the hero, Joe Lamb, decides to take with him. The air force is then brought up to the scene, which is a typical in Sci-Fi genre films, shortly after disappearances and unexplainable mishaps start to occur with an unknown cause, this is the disequilibrium and the enigma code. The deputy then tries to solve the mystery and they soon discover that it is an alien who is behind all this however, no one knows the real cause behind it. The air force then causes a fire to evacuate the town so that they themselves can capture the alien. Joel Courtney, the hero, and his friends sneak back into the town to rescue Elle Fanning and discover that the alien is trying to rebuild his spaceship so that he can return from where he came from. Once all the cubes are collected, the alien rebuilt his spaceship and flew away and the town was in peace again, this was the new equilibrium.

I didn’t really notice the soundtrack in the film, the sound effects must have had impact but for me it was significant enough as the story itself was intriguing. For me one moment in the film stands out, that moment is towards the end of the film when Joel Courtney, Joe Lamb, lets go of the necklace that his mum gave him and his dad was standing next to him. To me this moment really stood out as it showed that he was ready to let go of his mum because now he has his dad. Apart, from that moment I personally did not like the ending of the film as for me it was to rushed, it almost seemed like they didn’t have any more time or ran out of ideas for an ending.

For me it was aimed to children from about 6-14 year olds, as it was very; simple, easy to understand and not very realistic. I would recommend it to people younger than me, as they would find it more appealing however, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone older than me as I believe they won’t find it very interesting.

Overall I thought super 8 was entertaining film, it’s not something I would go cinema to watch however, the graphics and the story were very captivating. I would rate this film 6/10, as it was had good twist and turns and was very entertaining however, it wasn’t really my cup of tea and for me the ending let the movie down.

By Pranjal Jately

Media Awards Review

Media Awards (11^th October 2011)

I believe the best Yr 12 production was Call Of Duty. It was a hybrid, combining the genres of comedy, thriller and action. It was a well thought out and creative adaptation of Call Of Duty which is one of, if not, the most popular video game at current times. It was aimed towards teenager’s which was a very good idea as there were a majority of teenagers watching the short production, it was aimed to both genders but mainly boys as they are more typically playing the ‘shooter’ games. As seen in the production the director tried very hard relating the video and the elements to the same as in Call Of Duty, yes there were a few props missing e.g a gun however, it is understandable why they could not have that. I really enjoyed this production, maybe because I myself am a Call Of Duty fan but I would rate this production 7 out 10, putting aside that I am a Call of Duty fan. Well done to anyone who played a part towards making this production. 

I believe the best Year 13 production was the silent film that won the award for the best extended project. Although the film was silent and a black and white not at any point during the film did I lose   interest, in fact because it was silent and black and white actually gained more attention as it was a very unique and creative idea. It is not something I would have particular interest in watching as it wasn’t really aimed to teenagers but more towards the older viewers however, it stood out for me more than the rest considering the lack of sound and colour. It was very clear and easy to understand from a viewers point showing that the director had taken into consideration the mise-en scene, or CLAMPS, technique.  Unfortunately, I have forgotten the name of the film but the directors and actors worked really hard and that was shown in the fantastic short film production. Silent films aren’t everyone’s cup of tea however, this film truly did deserve the award. . Once again, well done to the director and actors of this play as this production was very successful. 8 out  10.

By Pranjal Jately