‘Super 8′ has done much better than expected in its opening run this week. It drew $37 million over the weekend which means, at least as far as revenue is concerned, the film has surpassed most predictions. It does make me wonder though: Why were expectations were so low in the first place?
If we look at box office results of comparable sci-fi films of late, they have been fairly impressive. Abrams last film, ‘Star Trek,’ drew $76.5 million in its first four days. And lest we assume that was only because of that franchises’ name recognition and built-in audience, Christopher Nolan’s ‘Inception’ was an unknown entity when it earned $60.4 million last summer during opening weekend. Not to mention the staggering earnings of ‘Avatar.’
It seems like an odd thing to have to remind the industry of, but people are more than willing to spend a few bucks to see solid science-fiction and fantasy releases. It really shouldn’t be a surprise when they do well.
The comparisons of ‘Super 8′ to other Spielberg films are to be expected, especially considering that he is a producer here. That being said, Spielberg does produce quite a few films nowadays and not that many of them are comparable to his prior directorial work. For instance, nothing about the ‘Transformers’ series strikes me as particularly Spielbergian, but he continues to fund those. Perhaps the similarities people see with ‘Super 8′ are simply confirmation bias.
Whatever the case may be, some similarities are definitely present. And for what it’s worth, that’s a compliment. In both of his last two films, J.J. Abrams has struck me as a master of homage. Star Trek had a definite sensibility and awareness of what inside jokes to highlight in order to connect with the audience, and the same is true here. There are scenes in ‘Super 8′ that pay homage to ‘Close Encounters,’ ‘E.T.,’ and ‘The Goonies,’ among others.
That being said, Super 8 never quite feels as authentic as any of those films. Perhaps with just a little bit more imagination it could have. Super 8 spends so much of its time following the textbook “science-fiction alien-encounter” narrative that it never quite feels original enough to stand on its own.
The main difference between Super 8 and a true classic is simple: Super 8 doesn’t take any imaginative risks. A film like Goonies was either going to succeed massively or fail hard, but for any of its faults, it came across as so interesting and different that it turned into a huge success and cult classic. I mean, it had a bone piano. What more could you ask for?
Super 8, on the other hand, comes across as a film that took its rewrites from a risk management team. Don’t expect anything more risqué here than a character who smokes pot and falls asleep.
The acting is first rate overall; aside from a somewhat wooden performance by Kyle Chandler as the town’s deputy, all of the performances are very convincing. The adolescent actors in the film did commendable jobs; even when some of the material could seem a little sappy, they pull it off without a hitch.
Overall, Super 8 is a fun summer viewing. Just don’t expect it to be as original or iconic as some of the films it’s getting compared to, that was obviously not the goal.
