I have to tell myself to avoid hyperbole here.

In fact, I’m reminding myself that with every keystroke.

It’s rare when I walk out of a movie as energized and excited as I have this evening.  Sometimes, you go into a movie expecting to be amazed, and are.  Sometimes you go into a movie not expecting much, and you are surprised.  Most times, it’s an even sum game.  But on the rarest of occasions you are presented with a film where your expectations may be on one level, and the movie presented to you changes, subverts and otherwise improves on every thing you wanted when you sat down in your comfy theater chair.

Super 8 is one of those films.

It’s hard to believe it’s been one year since the mystery JJ Abrams project trailer was attached to opening night prints of Iron Man 2. Like the teaser for Cloverfield before it, we weren’t given much. A train, an escape, a hint of alien origin, and two names - Abrams directing and Steven Spielberg producing.  The short trailers released since haven’t given us much more, but teased a film reminiscent of the Spielberg of old - a coming of age tale mixed with something bigger, something supernatural.

The latest in what has been dubbed Abrams' “Mystery Box” films, we as a marketed to audience are given but the slightest tastes of what the project is, only to have some key mystery or surprise revealed to us once we watch the completed film.  What Super 8 is, however, is no simple surprise.  If the prior “Mystery Box” films have been fun parlor tricks, the presents we enjoy but get bored with after a few days of play, this is the true gift from Abrams - the grandfather’s watch of his filmography, something to be enjoyed and shared for years to come.

Bold words, I realize - but it’s within the 112 minute running time of Super 8 that JJ Abrams comes of age as a filmmaker. Much how Spielberg transitioned from the blockbuster of Jaws to the beauty of Close Encounters, this is where Abrams ascends to the next level, becoming the creator of pop film perfection for the 21st century.  This is his transitionary moment - may it continue on into an amazing career.

The story is deceptively simple, but pitch perfect for the project.  12 year old Joe Lamb (first time actor Joel Courtney) makes films with his friends, directed by his best pal Charles (a scene stealing Riley Griffiths). He has a crush on 14-year old Alice (Elle Fanning). His father (Kyle Chandler) is the town deputy.  But for Joe, he’s hit a dark patch in life. His mother passed away, tragically, in an accident at the local steel mill.  His father is distant - the summer of ‘79 beacons, and all he can seem to do to deal is throw himself into the amateur films that he and his pals work on so diligently.  But late one summer night, they begin to film at the local train station - suddenly, out of nowhere, a truck begins to drive onto the tracks and slams directly into the incoming train.  The train is immediately derailed (in one of the most visceral sequences of the summer) and something escapes.

That’s your setup, and it really has you drawn in from the word go.  The difficult relationship between Joe and his father, the realistic and fun dialogue of Joe, Charles and their friends, and the wonderful (and slightly pained) performance of Elle Fanning as Alice.  It draws you in - in fact, one of the biggest compliments I can pay to the cast is, I would love to see them all interact in another film, just to see how they were before and after this incident.

Which brings me to the big question - the alien.  What is it? Well, it’s large and ugly.  But it had a purpose. It’s anger is righteous, and the force and focus it brings to itself is reminiscent of the T-Rex in the original Jurassic Park. A large, angry force of nature - one that you do not want to be caught in the path of destruction of.  But really, at the end of the day, it’s ancillary to the whole.

This is a film about coming of age, losing one’s innocence, seeing the world as an adult for the first time - and stepping up for one’s self.  As my buddy put it, it’s almost Stand By Me, but with aliens.  However, that doesn’t feel fitting, the combination too shlockly.  In whatever way a filmmaker can combine those two concepts without either feeling overbearing or trite, Abrams has done it here, and I think his strong, natural cast is certainly responsible for easing the transition between the two.

At no moment more than the climax is this apparent. Don’t worry, I’m not going to ruin it for you.  There is a point right at the end of the film where a number of characters come together, the score hits the sweet spot (masterfully produced by Michael Giacchino), and the ending begins to play out - and it’s absolutely beautiful.  So many diverse elements come together in one whole, and I realize, it’s this mixing of the mundane and the fantastic, the real and the unreal, and a wonderful score laid upon a well shot frame that is why I truly love movies.  It’s why I enter the theater with hope, the hope for transcendent moments like that.

What can I say that the prior 900 words haven’t already - I truly loved Super 8. It’s a movie that really understands the language of film, and uses that wonder and joy to build it directly in the audience.  I cannot recommend it any higher.  Go see it, and share it with everyone you love.  As the lone, major original idea piece hitting the multiplex this Summer, I hope it makes millions and millions of dollars - but even if it doesn’t, you’re bound to love it more than anything else that does.

And be sure to stay through those credits.