Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Super 8 Almost Super

JJ Abrams directs Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning in sci-fi flick

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 10, 2011 12:05 PM CDT

(Newser) – Super 8 is a fun summer blockbuster about kids, monsters, and filmmaking—but don’t expect a classic.

Director JJ Abrams is “clever and sincere,” notes AO Scott in the New York Times, “but still, at least on the big screen, more student than master. Like his previous features, Super 8 is an enticing package without much inside.”
Claudia Puig applauds the film in USA Today. “Super 8 packs the emotional punch of vintage Steven Spielberg with the spectacular effects and sense of mystery at which writer/director J.J. Abrams excels.

“Like an old airplane (or spacecraft) jerry-rigged from scrap pieces and made air-worthy again, Super 8 has been patched together with 30-year-old spare parts to provide an enjoyable ride of its own,” writes Todd McCarthy in the Hollywood Reporter.
And in Rolling Stone, Peter Travers has few reservations, calling the film “a true beauty.” Abrams and “producer Steven Spielberg have tapped their youthful celluloid dreams to craft the ultimate home movie, a creature feature built to scare you silly and maybe save the world.”

Click to read the 10 best Twitter reactions to Super 8.

In this film publicity image released by Paramount Pictures, from left, Kyle Chandler, Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning and Ron Eldard are shown in a scene from "Super 8." (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Francois Duhamel)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

A trailer for the film. (YouTube)

View larger videos >>

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next »

CLICK BELOW TO VOTE

71%

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Source Code an Action Flick With Brains

Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan star in Duncan Jones' sci-fi film

(NEWSER) - Source Code stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a military pilot placed into another man’s life using a secret program called Source Code—where he's forced to repeat the same eight minutes perpetually in order to catch a bomber. It’s pulse-pounding but deeply human:

It’s “the first film in a while to have a decent heart while quickening your pulse,” writes Joe Neumaier in the New York Daily News , calling it a "top-shelf B-movie." Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan “pull off the human moments within this intricate mousetrap—and never get lost in the puzzle.”

Trek Lives Well, Should Prosper

Abrams' bold reinvention of franchise will please both longtime fans and newbies

(NEWSER) - JJ Abrams has boldly pulled off the almost impossible with his stellar reinvention of Star Trek and made a movie that will wow both newcomers and hardcore Trekkies, critics say.

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: The prequel "is more exciting than the last four ST pictures put together, more fun than a barrel of Tribbles, and the most satisfying action-adventure since last year's Iron Man."

Men in Black 3 : Better Than the First?

Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones return for alien flick

(NEWSER) - Sure, no one was that desperate for a Men in Black 3—but it's actually a pretty good summer movie. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are back defending the planet from aliens, and this time, Josh Brolin's along for the ride as a young Jones.

The movie "turns out to be so much fun," writes AO Scott in the New York Times . While it "carefully fulfills its blockbuster imperatives—with chases and explosions and elaborately contrived plot twists—it swerves into some marvelously silly, unexpectedly witty, and genuinely fresh territory."

Dark Shadows Has Charm, No Substance

Johnny Depp stars in Tim Burton film

(NEWSER) - Critics aren't thrilled with Tim Burton's latest offering, inspired by the late-1960s cult TV show of the same name and starring Johnny Depp as an 18th-century vampire who is buried alive, only to be accidentally dug up in 1972. The film isn't sure what it wants to be:

Dark Shadows "tries to serve too many masters," writes Joe Neumaier in the New York Daily News . "Initially it’s an epic valentine to the show. Then it’s a vamp-out-of-water story. Soon it’s a gung-ho comedy. Finally it's a monster flick." Still, it "unearths enough fun."

Critics Agree: Avengers a Blast

Joss Whedon directs Robert Downey Jr. in superhero blowout

(NEWSER) - Sure, it's an effective moneymaking scheme: release movies about individual superheroes, then one about all of them. But with Joss Whedon at the helm, The Avengers really works. What critics are saying:

"Even if you don't particularly like comic-book adaptations, this film just might make a believer of you," writes Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times . "Whedon is the key reason why this $220 million behemoth of a movie is smartly thought out and executed with verve and precision."

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Super 8 Almost Super

JJ Abrams directs Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning in sci-fi flick

[Images (1)]

[Videos (1)]

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

Steven Spielberg • film • movie review • science fiction • JJ Abrams

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Source Code an Action Flick With Brains

Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan star in Duncan Jones' sci-fi film

Trek Lives Well, Should Prosper

Abrams' bold reinvention of franchise will please both longtime fans and newbies

Men in Black 3 : Better Than the First?

Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones return for alien flick

Dark Shadows Has Charm, No Substance

Johnny Depp stars in Tim Burton film

Critics Agree: Avengers a Blast

Joss Whedon directs Robert Downey Jr. in superhero blowout

About Us

Site

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?