*spoiler alert*  On the strength of mostly excellent reviews, we trundled off to our local movie house to see Super 8. There are some positives. The kids were well cast, and the first half hour or so of the film was nicely done. Beyond that, Super 8 is a cheesy monster movie. The monster-alien plot (the air force just doesn’t understand) takes over and the characters stop developing. Stuff gets blown up and the female child-lead gets rescued. The alien gets to reconstitute (?) his ship and take off for home. The end. Save your money.