I just got back from seeing Super 8 at the Towne Cinema.

In a word… Brilliant!

Action, sci-fi scares, family drama, cheese and a tad bit of adolescence romance all set in 1979… with middle school kids as the heroes.  Is there a better recipe than that?  I don’ t think so.

I  sat down, put my daily worries aside, and got absorbed into Abrams’ fantastic story.  I was hooked and loved it from the opening scene to the ending film within a film that is shown in the credits.  Warning to the easily freaked – there were about four spots where my wife jumped completely out of her skin (very enjoyable!).

Sure, could you say this movie is an amalgamation of ET, Goonies, Iron Giant and Alien… but it doesn’t matter because it was so brilliantly told!  J.J. Abrams is one of today’s master storytellers.  I’m claiming it here – this is a future cult hit.  In the same way I fall into a soul-warming stupor as I watch The Goonies, Monster Squad or The Lost Boys for the umpteenth time, today’s youth will do the same thing with Super 8 in 15-20 years.

Do yourself a favor – suspend belief, be a kid and thoroughly enjoy Super 8!