Super 8 *Caution! Spoiler Alert!*

If E.T. had a cousin...

Who knows? It might, just might be the mammoth alien portrayed in Super 8. They both are from outer space, befriend a young boy (around the age of 10) and are determined to go "home"... wherever home may be.

I (Hanna) will start the review with the plot. Basically, a group of 5 kids witnesses a truck crash an entire freight train (a concept that I'm still skeptical is even possible to begin with). Their Super 8 camera records the whole thing without them knowing, and upon viewing the footage after the fact, they see the shadows of a terrifying creature emerging from one of the freight cars. The movie then illustrates the mysterious happenings that unfold, from the disappearance of dogs and appliances, to the monster making brief appearances only to snatch up unsuspecting people.

Since this is a Spielberg-related film, there was naturally a happy ending where the main boy bonded and "understood" the monster, or rather, the misunderstood space creature. I didn't hate the ending, but I thought that it was strange that they depicted the boy and the alien suddenly having this deep bond and understanding for one another. In other movies, such as E.T., this bond is built over the course of time, and the audience can actually relate to it. This was the only thing I found lacking about this otherwise very enjoyable movie. The suspense was excellent; there were times that I jumped about a foot in the air/was pinned to the back of my seat with fright, and felt tingles all the way down to my toes.

Here, Maddie cuts in. "I disagree," she states. "I loved the ending. The first time I saw the monster, I got all freaked out of it, but then I realized that it actually had a heart and all it wanted to do was go home. This took away all the fear, and made me love the monster." And there, Speilberg, is what you were shooting for. Maddie continues, "Before I saw the movie, I read this thing that said the less you know about it beforehand, the better the experience of watching it is, which is true! First of all, I don't like scary, jump-out movies... (at this point, I (Hanna) question whether Maddie likes any movies at all, but I digress...) -but this was actually a pretty good one that had me leaving the theater going "WOW!""