Just when you thought we’d gone digital for good, J.J. Abrams (Star Trek) brings Kodak back with a bang. The extraterrestrial mystery unfurls when a pack of preteens shooting a movie —on super 8 film, duh— witnesses an explosive train accident leaving behind countless little “white Rubik’s cubes,” misbehaving electronics and prompts clandestine Air Force operations. To this Abrams adds human drama—a mother tragically killed and a deputy dad who tries to forbid his son Joe’s (Joel Courtney) friendship with Alice (Elle Fanning). Super 8 is an ode to the early work of producer Steven Spielberg, a throwback to 1979 America with its saturated, sepia-toned palette, dying-disco playlist and stereotypical gender roles—woman-in-distress (aka Alice trapped by alien) must be saved by man (aka Joe and coevals). Not all otherworldy phenomena are explained, but it will quench your thirst for a summer movie all the same.
This article appears in Jun 9-15, 2011.