No, I know why you asked, and it’s okay. You saw the preview, you saw that the same dudes who produced Knocked Up and 40-Year-Old Virgin wrote and produced it, you saw that it starred Michael Cera from Arrested Development, and you had high hopes. But you also had your doubts. Given that the plot is very similar to the atrocious American Pie series (Superbad is also about a group of awkward alcohol-obsessed high-school seniors who are trying as hard as they possibly can to get laid in the last weeks of the school year), you grew increasingly conflicted.

You worried that Superbad, as funny as it should be, would fall into American Pie’s overwrought teen-movie trap. You worried that the characters would be empty, the jokes would be stale, and the dialogue would be remarkably unrelatable.

But glory be, none of that is true! Hallelujah! Superbad is hilarious!

Unlike the American Pie jerks, the writers of Superbad are smart, funny, and probably a lot more attractive (but I’m just guessing on that one). And you can tell that the dialogue was written with sincerity—exaggerated for the sake of comedy, yes, but the characters came from the minds of men who had similar experiences in high school (read: they were dorks).

While American Pie had an endless list of flaws (including stupid dialogue and unlikable characters), Superbad nails the equation, combining gross, childish humor that makes boys wet their pants with sweet moments that are also funny, awkward, and endearing.

Superbad is not superbad . . . wait for it . . . it’s supergood! Ha! Get it? Super GOOD!? HAHAHA! Kill me.

SUPERBAD DIR. GREG MOTTOLA | RATED R | OPENS FRIDAY AT THEATERS EVERYWHERE

Tags: Film, judd apatow, superbad