Super 8

Super 8 (J.J. Abrams, 2011)

Of the many blockbusters released year after year, many have a great debt towards Steven Spielberg's summer classics of Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Jurassic Park, etc. Spielberg, being the producer of the latest J.J. Abrams fil, it is no surprise to claim that it revives the whole spirit the good old Spielbergian touch to the summer blockbuster. Actually, since a couple of years, Spielberg kinda lost his approach into filmmaking and his formulaic craft of movies that reminds of the cinematic fun of those delights.

Many recurring Spielberg themes are depicted in Abrams' interesting film that surprise by the influence of the old master but also the mastery of the delivering Abrams strong from his Star Trek and the superb Lost series. Abrams is a very talented storyteller and what needs a gifted storyteller? A great story. Super 8 has a very strong script and the pace of action is pitch perfect. Without being completely overbearing, the rhythm of the story and the interactions between the characters is well handled. The depth of the characters could have been uplifted in some ways but also we talk about fourteen or fifteen years old teenagers...

However, many elements gets the child cinephile in me dreaming. The young team of amateur filmmakers shooting a zombie flick with posters of Dawn of the Dead and Halloween, the young teenage romance, the Jurassic Parkest shots of the possible thing. Well, it makes my cinephile heart happily giggle and the blend of genres without being overwhelming while capturing the fascination that new discoveries and the sheer innocence that only can get me into the film.

Finally, the strong effort of Super 8 makes this film a nice contender in my personal top films of 2011. It's been a while since I actually enjoyed a good old blockbuster and this one was a pure pleasure from start to finish. A very efficient film that I recommend to everyone who has been amazed by the classic era of Steven Spielberg.

Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek (J.J. Abrams, 2009)

First of all, I must say that I am not a fan or an enthousiast of the Franchise. I may have seen one of the films when I was 12 or so and I don't remember which one it was. It was the one where they go through the center of the universe to find God... Well, the whole Trek fanatism never really got me. But when I see a good movie I don't care if it Star Trek or There Will be Blood; I will cry it out loud!

The re-boot of the franchise is clearly adressing itself to the new generation that never watched Star Trek and that couldn't understand the previous films. We have the whole genesis, the origin of Jim Kirk, Spock and the whole crew of the Enterprise. It's fresh funny and packed with amazing action sequences. If you don't get involve in the movie it's because you really don't want to see the film at all. The leads are protrayed by non-stars actors and it's a good thing 'cause you completely imerge yourself in the story. A good catharsis one can say... but here I write it without a negative comment, because, for some people the Science-fiction themes are harder to follow. Especially in a legendary and uncompromised franchise like Star Trek.

J.J. Abrams is a director who knows what he's doing and the years on Lost haven't been lost at all (sorry for that one). He has all the talent a director needs; to take a complex story that could have been another action flick full of sappy stereotypes and bring it to a level the series never probably achieved since its debuts. The visuals are simply candy for the eye, while never denaturating their origin. For example, the shape of the Enterprise is the same as it ever was, but it never felt outdated or lavish vintage 1970's. The same thing occurs when you look at the costumes, they don't feel retro-futurists at all, they have lines that reminds the original ones with simple and subtle modifs "au goût du jour".

Star Trek has been reborn and/or revived with passion and success. The re-boot of a franchise is always a hard thing and could be disastrous (Superman). It's always a challenge to measure how much of new stuff and original stuff and how you handle the so-called stuff. Moreover, the most important issue is who will handle it, J.J. Abrams handled it like a master, now we'll have to see for the future how he will handle the sequels.