Release Date: June 10, 2011
Note: Spoilers abound. The tl,dr version of this post is: Super 8 is well made, but lacks the heart and soul of its inspirations.
Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was released less than two months after I was born and is one of the first movies I ever saw, if not the very first. I know this because my parents often recount a story of how I needed to be escorted out of the theater when the titular character first meets Elliott and starts screaming in panic, causing a certain infant to start screaming in panic. Funnily enough, years later, I would jump at the same scene when rewatching the film.
But more than just a story about a homesick alien, his quest to go home, and how a boy helps get him there, E.T. illustrates the emotions of friendship in ways that realistic settings still can't capture. I find it hard to believe that anyone can watch E.T. and not tear up or outright cry in certain scenes (let me know otherwise).
Which brings me to Super 8.
Super 8 is written and directed by J.J. Abrams with Steven Spielberg serving as executive producer. I'm a big fan of both, so I was eager to see it. Spielberg has made the most diverse movies out of any other major director that I can think of. It takes an amazing amount of skill to tackle Raiders of the Lost Ark, Schindler's List, Jurassic Park, and Saving Private Ryan and excel at all of them. Abrams has had a hand in TV shows such as Alias, Fringe (my current sci-fi addiction), and Lost (otherwise known as the show I've been obsessed with every day of its existence). In addition, he rebooted the Star Trek films, making it more accessible for a mainstream crowd.
Super 8 has gotten a lot of attention for being a tribute to Spielberg's science fiction films from the late 70s and early 80s, namely E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The plot follows a group of junior high friends attempting to make a zombie film in their small town. While filming a late night scene at a train station, a military train derails releasing...something. The something seems to be malevolent: people disappear and destruction follows in its wake. We don't see it early on and catch only glimpses from the film's midway point until the end, when we get a full reveal. But we do hear it throughout. This is very much like Lost, which took pains to not reveal anything until absolutely necessary (if at all). A word of advice: if you live in the Super 8 town and hear sounds similar to Lost's smoke monster, it's time to run. (I'm sure this is purely coincidental.) The mystery is engaging and effects are great throughout. There is also a sweet adolescent love story.
The kids argue and call each other names, just like E.T. But the similarities don't end there. The something turns out to be an alien. It was captured by the government and escaped. All it wants to do is go back home. Refrigerators get emptied out. There's a government cover-up. It's kids vs adults. The kids rally together to save one of their own. Ultimately, it's the bond between alien and boy that allows the boy to survive dangerous situations and the alien to leave Earth.
The big problem is there are too many plot elements reminiscent of E.T. that it practically begs for comparison, however unfair it may be. E.T. is a beloved classic. It is a story of how two children (E.T and Elliott) come together to forge a relationship that defines both of them. They are outcasts until they meet. Their bond evolves to the point that there is a literal symbiotic relationship. E.T is about the love of friends and how without it, we'll flail about.
Abrams tries to straddle two lines in Super 8. We think the alien is on a murder spree until we find its true motivation and for some inexplicable reason, kills the villains while only incapacitating the good guys. But all it wants to do is rebuild its ship and go home. So ultimately, it is well-intentioned. This is where Super 8 fails: because we spent the vast majority of the movie seeing the devastation of the alien, we can't flip the switch and think the alien is sympathetic (as much as the story reminds us of E.T.). The bond formed between the main character and alien occurs in the equivalent of a Vulcan mind meld, lasting for maybe a minute total. E.T. spends its entire middle section defining the relationship between its alien and human. When E.T. (the character) leaves, we're saddened that Elliott has lost what seems to be his only friend. But there's also a happiness that the friend is moving into a better situation. We don't feel anything when the Super 8 alien leaves Earth, except that the film is over.
So in the end, Super 8 would stand better on its own. If it didn't recall E.T. so consciously at times, we would accept what the film asks of us more easily. But with so much debt owed to E.T., we can't help notice that we haven't connected with the alien or the human character as much as we did with E.T. and Elliott. Instead of reflecting on the adventure that transpired in Super 8, we feel a bit empty and just want to see E.T. again so we can relive the most pure of human emotions. Super 8 is too good of a tribute to Spielberg that it suffers for it.
