Super 8 is super great

Exactly one year to the day that J.J. Abrams' rebooted "Star Trek" hit theaters, rumors started to circulate in May 2010 that the director had already shot a theatrical trailer, to run in front of "Iron Man 2," for a secret new project called "Super 8." While the film seemed to have a connection to the Abrams-produced alien-disaster flick "Cloverfield," we soon learned that wasn't true. Instead, the film was an original tale, produced by Steven Spielberg and having something to do with an escaped creature from Area 51, the mysterious government site long suspected to be involved in alien experimentation.

But that's about all we'd find out for a while. Over time, though, we began to put together the pieces. And eventually, Abrams himself started to dole out info about the movie. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's flash back in time with an MTV News cheat sheet before we can truly say we know everything there is to know about "Super 8.

Mr. Spielberg, let me tell you about the cast I got for Super 8. They are phenomenal! As you have done so many times before, I assembled a very talented young group of actors. First, I cast a newcomer by the name of Joel Courtney as my lead in the movie. This kid has never been seen in a feature movie before, but when you see him on screen you’d swear he’d been doing this for his entire life. I got a second newcomer too, Riley Griffiths, who plays the young director of the super 8 film in the movie. I bet you can’t watch him on the screen and not think of yourself at that age. Best of all, I found there is another Fanning out there. You’ve worked with Dakota before, but I got her kid sister, Elle Fanning. If this young woman does not bring tears to your eyes at least twice during the course of this movie then there is something seriously wrong with you. All the kid actors got along great on set and it shows on the movie screen too.

I’ve read some early reviews of Super 8 and most of them have been pretty positive. Many people are calling Super 8 a love letter to you. That’s nice of those people and I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m afraid I must disagree with that assessment. Frankly, I find that description kind of bland and lacking any creativity behind it. Super 8 is not homage to you either. Your influence can be felt in this movie; however, this is not a Steven Spielberg film. Not by a long shot. I did not want to try to re-create a Spielberg movie. Those are your movies; they have your voice and your vision. I set out to try to capture the spirit of many of your earlier movies and I believe I accomplished that; but, Super 8 is my movie. I think audiences will walk away with that too. I wanted to deliver a great “popcorn flick.