Review of ‘Super 8′

On Thursday morning a few colleagues from as many websites, among which I include myself on behalf of The Seventh Art, we had the opportunity to attend courtesy of Paramount Pictures to a special screening of about 20 minutes as a brief expected advancement of ‘Super 8′, the new JJ Abrams film produced by Steven Spielberg which hits U.S. cinemas on 10 June, and unfortunately a little later to the Spanish, namely on 12 August.

And the general feeling, I know, I could not have been more satisfactory to preview a title which confirms that certainly ranks as one of the proposals, a priori, most promising and interesting of all the films that come to us during the season summer, and who knows if even the whole year … or beyond. As if the expectations of themselves were not high enough, but things such as: painted very, very well, especially for those who grew up spending the heads of VHS based time and again to see films like ‘The Goonies ‘.

After the trailer 3D projection of the third title of the popular franchise based on the Hasbro toy line (added value of something then I will comment), it is the turn to the real claim to a server that has not imported dispense with some of the hours of sleep that corresponded to the day, the screening of a short preview of the much anticipated (and expected) ‘Super 8′. Preceded by a hilarious video introduction by the JJ Abrams himself, who briefly explained concisely the genesis of the project at that time warned that the assembly and the other was not yet final, a total of six scenes, with an estimated duration of 20 minutes we have been shown. How could it be otherwise we could see the scene in full of the spectacular train wreck that serves as a trigger for action, which still echoes in my head and on-screen display which is very different to that seen in its very early teaser and three brief scenes prior to it, and last, after the accident, in which we have been able to “guess” the attack that occurs by “something” at a gas station attached to the same superbly engineered. If it is true that the film paints too well to at this point have fallen to half.

Without detailing seen on screen, something I consider totally unnecessary, several things are worthwhile out of what promises to be ‘Super 8′, which nevertheless and also suggests his trailer and that has led to the hype has swelled to dangerously high levels. Starting is palpable mime that has put the project JJ Abrams to offer a good film in any rule, at least in intent (see the results once we can sink his teeth into the film to complete), go far beyond the boundaries of the summer blockbuster that had moved far in its previous forays into the big screen. Abrams aims (and seems to have done) to recover the aroma, the ways and forms that gave off much of the production of Steven Spielberg of the 70 and 80, whether as director or producer, with films like ‘ET, ET ‘,’ Encounters of the Third Kind ‘,’ Jaws’ or ‘The Goonies’ at the top, not only in the optical and photographic equipment work. The gender mix of the first able to jump from one to another by simply changing the frame, the handling of the narrative of the second, the development and creation of tension and suspense of the third, and cheerfully and adventurer quarter come together as unambiguous references Abrams has managed in his head to create an elaborate hybrid hopefully once irresistible and solid parts come together.

If on one hand the train crash scene is truly spectacular, perhaps a little exaggerated but so effective and powerful as you might expect from the director of the remarkable ‘Star Trek (2009)’, in contrast to the scene at the pump developed Abrams shows an exquisite mastery of the staging by the use of framing, hiding anything that does not want to see (or whatever it is, what or who is the threat) by the intelligent use of screen elements and demonstrating an elaborate visual intentionality plays a key role in creating tension and suspense. But if it becomes apparent that the technical level the film is remarkably up, no less remarkable is the apparent selection of excellent and rather obscure intentionally casting a great match for the avoidance of preconceived ideas, and in which we have a group of young performers who, like at the time the members of ‘The Goonies’ convey a naturalness, freshness, confidence and camaraderie between them tremendously empathetic making it clear that Abrams has also taken great interest in both the development of the characters and the relationships between them, well defined on paper, sympathetic and human, but above all (at least as far as can be seen in just a few minutes) validated by the direction of actors in a production that cross our fingers, is at least three-quarters as good as dares to be, something which in itself would place far above much of the annual film production. Is sensed one of those productions that transcends the film to become a phenomenon…