Star Trek, the new film from JJ Abrams, incites the single greatest question that any movie can generate: “Is it any good?” It’s an explosive return for the longest running American film franchise, with an eleventh film now under its ever-expanding belt. Gone are all numbers and subtitles from its title; it’s a subtle hint of the director’s intent to go back to basics.

And boy, does he ever. Beginning literally with the birth of Jim Kirk that is probably the biggest atomic wedgie on “canon” ever yanked in Trek history, Abrams breaks from the need to fit into the tightly-woven mold of five television series, ten movies, and a small library of books, all of which add something to that ever-expanding Trek universe. Screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurzman have delivered what seemed like the impossible: a brilliant script that fires on all thrusters.

But don’t let the fact that Abrams, Orci, and Kurzman have turned the Trekiverse on its pointed ears fool you into thinking that this is a bad movie. They’ve done a masterful job of making it relevant, exciting, and most importantly — fun. To be fair, though, they had a lot of help, specifically from a young cast where each member fills iconic roles to perfection. Trek fans (including this writer) asked themselves and each other for ages, “Who could play Kirk other than William Shatner?” Well, now we know. That man is Chris Pine.

Pine’s Kirk is young, vibrant, sexy, brilliant, and has the sheer guts and is downright arrogant. To be blunt, Chris Pine is James T. Kirk. Thankfully, he didn’t fall into the trap of mimicking William Shatner’s odd…pauses…betweenthewordsashespeaks. Watch for one particular sequence involving an apple that’s an outstanding homage to a similar apple in The Wrath of Khan.

Zachary Quinto dons the pointed ears as a young Spock, who personifies a younger version of Leonard Nimoy, except for the voice. Oh well, can’t have everything. I do think that Quinto had a little bit of an advantage, though, since Nimoy himself also appears as “Spock Prime,” the older version of the iconic character we all know so well.

The film opens with an explosive sequence that literally has the audience gasping for breath, and introduces the villain, a Romulan named Nero (Eric Bana). Nero is, as Spock Prime puts it, “A highly disturbed Romulan.” That’s about all I can say without spoiling the film, and the fun. He’s not quite as rich of an adversary as Khan was, but he holds his own nicely, and presents a great “galaxy is at stake” threat.

We’re first introduced to Kirk as he hits on the hot chick, and gets into a four-to-one fight, only to end up running into Captain Christopher Pike (Lee Greenwood), who insists that he joins Starfleet. “Shuttle leaves at 0800 tomorrow.” Does the angst-ridden hothead that is Jim Kirk take him up on the offer? Of course he does. After all, he has to join Starfleet to become Captain. Plus, there are so many green women out there!

The third person of the great Trek triumvirate is Leonard “Bones” McCoy (we finally learn what “Bones” means), played perfectly by Karl Urban, who’s been in far too many genre films to list. Among them are two of the Lord of the Rings films and The Chronicles of Riddick. This man gets around. He’s found in McCoy all those elements that make our favorite irascible country doctor as lovable as he is. He doesn’t mimic the late DeForest Kelley. He becomes McCoy.

All of the others are there. Simon Pegg is Scotty, Zoe Saldana is Uhura, John Cho is Sulu, and Anton Yelchin is Pawel… er Pavel Chekov. The late Majel Barrett Roddenberry provided the voice of the computer just before her death in December. Every character has their moment, and their time to shine. Put simply, they’re perfect.

As the eleventh film in the Trek series, Star Trek takes its place among the best of them. Is it better than Wrath of Khan? Well, I’m not sure I’m willing to say that just yet. But it’s darn close. Maybe it’s the fact that Kirk bites into an apple in both films.

The script is tight, the editing is nearly flawless, and the direction is spot-on. Star Trek has joined a few of the recent big-budget blockbusters with its “action in your face” imagery, which sometimes makes the audience wonder what’s happening (think last year’s Transformers). Thankfully, Abrams does a great job in pulling out often enough to let us get a sense of the size and scale of just what the hell is going on.

Diehard Trek fans will take issue with some of the rapid promotions seen in the film, and yes, they seem a little contrived. Certain romances will also take them by surprise, but they make sense. Of course, with the near-religious “canon” turned on its heels (even if it is well-done), some fans will end up in convulsions no matter what. I’m not sure which would be more entertaining to watch, really… a trekker twitch as he complains about the placement and size of the engine nacelles or the aesthetic values of the new Enterprise, or the film itself. To be honest, though, there’s something twisted in my mind that would rather watch a twitching trekker.

“That’s… not…canon…generoddenberry…would…be…spinninginhisgrave…” Yeah, that’d be fun to watch.

But, I digress. The movie is brilliant.

Let’s be fair, though. Every time something comes along as a reboot, it’s instantly met with a lot of skepticism and cautious optimism. I certainly had plenty of both. But now that I’ve seen it, I’m convinced. My skepticism was relieved, and my optimism was honored. Star Trek is back. And it’s one of the best Treks ever. The words “Space, the final frontier….” have never been uttered against a film that was as sharp, action-packed, and completely human. And it’s just gone into warp speed.

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