Spielberg homage 'Super 8' not too magical

What happens when you write and direct an homage to Steven Spielberg with the man himself as your producer? As J.J. Abrams ("Star Trek") has found out with "Super 8," some encounters can be too close for comfort.

"Super 8" centers on a group of moviemaking youngsters who witness an elaborately explosive train wreck outside their small Ohio town; subsequently, people, dogs and car engines go missing. The central mystery won't surprise anyone who's seen that Spielberg film with the kid bicycling across the sky, but Paramount Pictures has been so hush-hush about details that it seems curmudgeonly to say much more.

Amid all the crushed metal and fireballs, a tender romance blossoms between model-train geek Joe (Joel Courtney) and pretty but brittle Alice Dainard (a captivating Elle Fanning). The affectionately bickering filmmakers also can be endearing, particularly the tyrannical Charles (Riley Griffiths), whose girth and budget problems recall a young Orson Welles.

The larger drama, however, is mere mechanics. As Abrams clumsily moves characters into position and makes sure the girl needs rescuing, he forgets about the film's central ideas. The overall moviemaking conceit, along with the rather random 1979 setting (Blondie and The Knack serve as aural signposts), end up having no real importance to the story.

"Super 8" looks like a Spielberg film and even sounds like one, thanks to composer Michael Giacchino, who perfectly mimics the yearning romance of a John Williams score. But "Super 8" is so intent on reproducing the Spielberg magic that it brings very little magic of its own.

Abrams still finds 8 mm is super

J.J. Abrams has embraced the most advanced technology to make TV shows like "Lost" and "Fringe" and movies like "Star Trek." He's pushing boundaries again in his latest feature, "Super 8." And yet, Abrams still has a soft spot in his creative soul for what now looks like primitive technology -- Super 8 mm movies. He holds the film format -- created in 1965 -- in such high regard because it provided the first outlet for his creativity.

"There's something about looking at Super 8 films that is so evocative," Abrams says.

"You could argue it's the resolution of the film somehow because they aren't crystal clear and perfect, so there is a kind of gauzy layer between you and what you see. You could argue it's the silence of them. You could say it's the sound of the projectors that create a moodiness. But, there's something about looking at analog movies that's infinitely more powerful than digital."

Steven Spielberg, who, like Abrams, started with the small film cameras, shares that soft spot for Super 8. A few years ago, Abrams and Spielberg began to talk about their early film days, and that sparked the idea for "Super 8."

-- Fresno Bee