'Star Trek' review

Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine (Credit: Paramount)

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Far in the future, young and rebellious James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is a hellraising student at the Starfleet Academy, hoping to follow in his late father's footsteps and become a starship Captain. Kirk's rival, Spock (Zachary Quinto), is a brilliant half-human citizen of the planet Vulcan—whose people are known for their rigorous logic. When both wind up on the crew of the starship U.S.S. Enterprise, under the command of Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood), they'll find they have a common enemy in Romulan madman Nero (Eric Bana).

The buzz: Five live action TV series, 10 feature films, countless amounts of merchandise—"Star Trek" is one of the most durable franchises in entertainment history. But it's been dormant following the sooner-than-expected cancellation of TV's "Enterprise," and a few films that floundered both creatively and at the box office. Enter TV icon and budding film director J.J. Abrams ("Lost," "Mission Impossible III"), who has a mandate to revive the franchise with fresh faces playing the iconic original series characters and a level of action and entertainment audiences expect from a 21st Century summer blockbuster. Best case scenario: this is another "Batman Begins" or "Casino Royale," not a "Superman Returns."

The verdict: Never liked "Trek"? Always loved "Trek"? Never heard of "Trek"? (Really!?) Doesn't matter. Wherever you're coming from the result is the same: Abrams shoots and scores. He not only restores the wit, excitement and adventure to a franchise that had lost its way, his vision of "Trek" rediscovers the thrill of space travel through fresh eyes. Making ingenious use of a time travel premise to literally reboot the franchise, Abrams' film is vital in a way that even the best previous "Trek" films couldn't quite manage. The cast—including John Cho (as Sulu), Anton Yelchin (Chekov), Zoë Saldana (Uhura), Simon Pegg (Scotty) and a standout Karl Urban (Dr. McCoy)—comfortably gels into a winning ensemble, breathing new life into characters cleverly conceived decades ago by creator Gene Roddenberry. A near-perfect template for what a summer thrill ride should be, "Star Trek" is great fun that doesn't forget its brain, heart or sense of humor. As Spock could tell you, it would be illogical for audiences to reject this, which inevitably raises an even bigger challenge—making a sequel that takes the series to the next level.

Did you know? Abrams was never a hardcore fan of "Trek"—which probably helped in making this movie as accessible as possible—but he's not shy about proclaiming his love of "Star Wars." You can see the influence in "Trek's" menagerie of weird-looking aliens, which thankfully have more in common with the imaginative original "Wars" trilogy rather than the overkill of the prequels.

Video: See "Star Trek" get a full 5 stars in our "Fast-Paised" video review

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