Super 8

JJ Abrams has created something special with this one. He has taken his love of mystery, story telling, and characters and combined them into quite possibly the best two hours you will spend at the theater this summer. Abrams' Super 8 had me feeling oddly nostalgic of my childhood when I watched movies like E.T. Jurassic Park, or Indiana Jones. He has given us what Spielberg gave to us, popcorn movies with heart. Something has happened to movies in the passed decade, with exceptions of course, that seem to communicate heart and entertainment are mutually exclusive. You can't have entertaining action and CGI while developing characters that the audience cares about! Well Abrams proved this wrong with Super 8. He takes the time to develop his main ensemble of middle school film lovers so when the action hits, the audience genuinely cares for their well being. It has been too long since I have had goosebumps, emotional upheaval, and suspenseful fear in the same movie. 

Abram's story of a mysterious creature being let loose in a small town is only the backdrop of middle school children transitioning from childhood into adulthood. The main character, Joe, is a middle school boy who starts out the movie attempting to cope with the death of his mother. He is left with a loving, yet stern, father who doesn't understand his new found role of both mother and father. Joe is left to fend for himself with only his fellow film makers to help. Throughout the movie, Joe learns of loss, love, and the necessity of letting go.