Movie Review: "Super 8"

Movies that were awesome when I was a kid:

"ET"
"The Goonies"
The "Back to the Future" Series
Everything done by John Hughes
"Hook"
"The Newsies"
"3 Ninjas"
"The Mighty Ducks" Series
"The Sandlot"
"Jurassic Park"
"Now and Then"
"Clueless" (which then led me into other high school-related movies of the '90s, but that's for another post.)

What did everything before "Clueless" have in common? Smart ass kids who weren't attached some electronic device (except for those dorky kids in "Jurassic Park," but I can let that one slide) and who found themselves in a predicament that few if any adults could understand. There was also usually some kind of big adventure or big mystery. And there was also usually the influence of Steven Spielberg.

"Super 8" has all of that. It's awesome. AWESOME. It's set in a small Ohio town in '79. The newest form of technology is the Walkman, which the sheriff hilariously warns is a "slippery slope." That sheriff is probably the old man who keeps calling me at work and asking for random information because "not everyone owns a computer, young lady."

Anyway, these middle school-aged friends spend their summer making a movie on a Super 8 camera, and just happen to witness and accidentally film a train crash. But it's no ordinary train crash. The cargo (which goes missing) is something that the military is in town to retrieve, but they can't talk about it with the locals. So, who takes it upon themselves to figure out what the hell is going on and save the day? The kids, of course!

Remember when you watched these kinds of movies and were totally swept away by them? It will happen again while you watch this. Maybe it's because of the nostalgic setting (I don't know if this storyline would play if it was set in modern day) or that the sarcastic comments and cursing is reminiscent of youth, when you just loved to say the word shit more than almost any other. Maybe it's because these kids look like normal, age-appropriate kids and not some perfect Disneybot.

Whatever it is, watch "Super 8" and it will take you right back to your middle school days. (The fun ones, not the awkward horrible ones.)

Oh, and Spielberg produced. Mint!