Super 8, Questions.

[Laurie Barnes]

Before I begin. BIG SPOILERS!

If you don't want spoilers go somewhere else because this is a discussion aimed at those who have seen the movie, and you will need to have seen the movie to even comment. Good we clear?

I watched Super 8 today and while the movie is fresh in my mind I want to bring up a problem my brother had with it, something he felt was so important that he bitched about it the whole way home. I would like anyone who has seen the movie to offer opinions and ideally evidence to support their opinion. After a few replies I will give my thoughts on the whole thing. Good? Good.

Now for the burning question. Remember spoilers also I encourage responses to use the spoiler code which goes something like , less the brackets. Use the preview option and I'm sure you'll figure it out.

So, Why exactly did the alien not kill the kids right at the end? What did Joe say, or do that turned the beast from a monster that had been shown slaughtering and even eating people, into something sympathetic that no longer wanted to kill? Why did it waste all those people and not the children?

Discuss.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

Spoiler

The civilians (and police) didn't get killed, rather dragged away, the military on the other hand fired at it and had kept it prisoner for ages, so it was a bit pissed at them.

 

[FalloutJack]

Okay, yes. A reasonable plot-point worth asking.

Spoiler

We see that the thing is able to get into your mind merely by physical contact. This is why our scientist friend rams a freakin' train with a truck, because he knows how the alien feels and wanted to help it. The alien picks up our main character and instantly knows his mind. It knows that he is also in a kind of severe emotional pain where everything seems terrible and hopeless. In effect, our protagonist basically called foul on it and the alien understands it to be a fair cop, so it decides to resume the escape plan.

 

[Laurie Barnes]

Spoiler

The civilians (and police) didn't get killed, rather dragged away, the military on the other hand fired at it and had kept it prisoner for ages, so it was a bit pissed at them.

You see, there in lies my problem.

Sure it was pissed at the military, but it took it out on everyone. All those people it took hostage? It was probably gonna eat them, we definitely saw it munching on someones leg. And you will notice the two other survivors, the cop and the woman with the hair rollers were not in the final scene, so we can assume it wasted them too. So why not the kids? Personally I agree that the alien learned a lesson in overcome distress and pain from Joeseph but this does not satisfy my brother who is my basis for starting this discussion. I suspect the bugger is just too hard to please.

 

[InterestingKiwi]

It was a fairly average movie in my eyes, not sure where all the critic praise I've seen is coming from, but that is off-topic.

That was my biggest gripe with the movie too. Just seemed like the writers couldn't figure out how to end it. It was just so abrupt, like one minute the alien is all eat, smash, build, and kill this kid. Than 10 seconds later...I'm all good. Let's just build my ship and leave.