Riley will be writing movie reviews for The Citizen this year. He will try to get reviews posted as soon as he knows what is coming through town, and as soon as a review is possible. Let him know what you think, as well as your thoughts on Salida’s active theatre nightlife. Oh, the lights, the drama. Welcome aboard our newest writer.

by Riley Donavanini Super 8 was an exciting new summer flick brought to you by director JJ Abrams and producer Steven Spielberg. (Abrams directed Star Trek and Mission Impossible 3) The film is set in 1979 and it follows the adventures of Joe Lamb, a 13 year old boy who is filming a zombie movie, with his friends, on a super 8 camera in the fictional town of Lillian Ohio. They are filming a scene next to the train tracks when a train roars past them making the theater shutter. Joe sees a white pickup truck turn onto the tracks and a massive train crash follows. The following train crash is without a second thought one of the best movie crashes of all time (that I have seen) and that’s saying something when you think about all of the movies that involve crashes of some kind. The kids scramble and as Joe falls and the crash stops, the side of a freight car explodes and you can hear a thing crawl away…

The movie is as awesome as the trailers promised and has some interesting characters which reminded me of my friends. That’s one thing that the movie does so well. I think it does a great job of keeping a good tempo throughout the movie, and still has time to explore the characters feelings and thoughts. The things I found to be unbelievable is how the kids learn about the monster and the fact that all of that info is spoon fed to you in about three minutes. That’s just not that plausible.

The sets and costumes are top of the line and the acting is portrayed well enough that I found all of the characters believable. The editing is seamless and the special effects are well done too.

Although the movie is directed by JJ Abrams you can tell that he took some tips from old Steven Spielberg, such as making the kids the heros and  the whole monster thing, but some things are more original and unique to JJ Abrams. Like the reflections of blue light that showed up in both Star Trek and Mission Impossible 3.

All in all the movie features a solid story, great scatting and special effects and is the summer movie that really is quality and not just explosions. I would highly recommend this movie.