It's odd to say a movie that features a rampaging alien is comforting, but everything non-alien about this J.J. Abrams film has a warmth to it - the kids' camaraderie, the familial love (even admist strain), the simpler-time atmosphere ... even if we're only talking 1979. "Super 8" definitely plays like the Spielberg homage that Abrams has said it is. The actors - playing youngsters who stumble on a train crash and a possible alien when making their own Super-8 zombie flick - are natural and affecting, especially Joel Courtney in the central role. "Super 8" weakens a bit when it turns into a chase-and-explosion thriller at the end. It's much more powerful as a human drama than as an alien adventure.

- Kristina Dorsey