J.J. Abrams' Star Trek is a divine triumph over skepticism. After Abrams admitted to not being a fan of the source material to his own film¹, I surmised, as others did, that the finished product would reflect a distinct naïveté toward the original Star Trek TV series and its subsequent movies. Yet, as it turns out, an uncompromised perspective was precisely what the ailing series needed. Abrams' vision of Trek lore is refreshing because it appeals to a wide range of audiences, both casuals and Trekkies alike. His film is also a visual masterstroke that operates as a truly entertaining summer blockbuster. But at the heart of Star Trek is a character-driven melodrama that introduces exciting new roles for familiar personalities.

After some preliminary events that set the stage for the plot, we begin following a brash and over-confident James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), who is being encouraged by Commander Pike (Bruce Greenwood) to join Starfleet, where he may one day become a great Captain like his father. This Kirk is still coming into his own, though, as a lonely cadet, fraternizing with the sultry linguist Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and scheming with his best friend Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban) on how to beat the dreaded Kobayashi Maru test. We then get to the maiden voyage of the U.S.S. Enterprise under the helm of Pike and a fresh-faced crew joined by Spock (Zachary Quinto), Sulu (John Cho), Chekov (Anton Yelchin), and eventually Scotty (Simon Pegg), and together they must thwart a maniacal Romulan, named Nero (Eric Bana), who is bent on total galactic supremacy. Nero seeks revenge for the future destruction of his planet and blames Spock for the disaster. Thankfully there is an older, more well-informed Spock (Leonard Nemoy) that can clear all this up for us ... sort of.

Abrams and his screenwriters understand the importance of thrilling their audience. Seeing that Star Trek was released to kick-start a summer blockbuster season, it is only fitting that the film contains awe-inspiring action sequences. In fact, the film opens with a tremendous firefight between the U.S.S. Kelvin (a precursor to the Enterprise) and Nero's massive Romulan vessel. Abrams confronts the action with his camera head-on, utilizing handheld shots to navigate through the bridge of the Kelvin as it crumbles from the onslaught of the Romulan attack. Even before the title card is shown, the film establishes itself as a proficient science fiction action-adventure. There is still much to be shown, though, like the breathtaking parachute drop sequence that proves disastrous for a red-suited crew member, and the exhilarating chase on the ice planet Delta Vega involving Kirk and several grotesque life forms. Those that come to the film simply for thrills will find that Star Trek does not waste a moment.

Primarily, however, the audience for this film will be those who grew up with the television series, coveted the movies, and are prepared to either embrace or scrutinize this new take. Much of that decision to either love or loathe the film will no doubt fall to the actors, who are filling familiar roles while simultaneously attempting to make them their own. Thankfully, the acting is near pitch-perfect. Pine is the stand-out as the rebellious and confident James Tiberius Kirk that we all know and love. This is a far removed performance from the one that William Shatner gives the character in the original film series, but Pine does a good job of establishing a strong character who is always willing to risk his life for his crew (and, one gets the feeling, the sake of adventure), and if you watch closely, you may indeed catch a few mannerisms that seem to be taken from Shatner's portrayal of the character. The supporting actors -- Saldana, Urban, Cho, Pegg, and Yelchin -- channel much more of their predecessors than Pine does but do not turn their roles into caricatures or imitations; they provide fresh but respectful and consistent characterizations. Urban in particular is spot-on in his portrayal of the famous DeForrest Kelly role, and his line, "Damnit, man, I'm a doctor not a physicist!" receives one of the biggest applauses from the audience.

I would be remiss not to admit that I found Quinto an adequate choice for Spock but could not become enveloped in his portrayal as much as I had with the others, even including Bana, who is completely over the top. Quinto creates a Spock that cannot resign himself to fully become a Vulcan and betray his human feelings, teetering on the edge of an emotional meltdown (and eventually into one). Yet, I never felt the character's struggle between Vulcan and human. He seems to play Spock as straight Vulcan except for a few choice scenes where he needs to show compassion or outrage. There is, however, a great scene where Spock raises to his father questions about having human emotions, in turn learning that his father did not choose a human wife because it was logical (as he told Spock as a child) but because he was in love.

One aspect of the film that may present a problem for some viewers is the time travel. Screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman use time travel to create a significant deus ex machina that compromises much of the Star Trek plot. Some might find the screenwriter's solution to the inconsistencies created within the film itself (such as the apparent romance between Spock and Uhura that never surfaced in the later films) to be somewhat of a convenience. There are some rather large conveniences at work here, as almost all of the film's "But what about ... ?" questions can be answered with a preemptive retort about time travel.

However, I cannot fault the screenwriters for their elusive tactics when it comes to escaping the accusatory finger-pointing of a critical Star Trek fan base because it allows for a greater good: it creates a foundation for future Star Trek sequels that are not constricted to the events of the other films in the series. Specifically with the inclusion of the future (Nimoy) Spock, the film opens to question the metaphysical ramifications of time travel, mostly brought up directly by Spock himself. We may assume that Kirk is eventually destined toward a meeting with Khan or that Spock is fated to the events of that famous sequel, but what is established in this Trek film is that alternate realties can be achieved through changes of events in time. Perhaps there exists an alternate reality in which some of the trials and tragedies the characters face will never occur. Star Trek has its audience thinking, which is definitely more than just a convenience.

Still, I cannot help but question the plausibility of the villain Nero's motivation to avenge his home planet by eliminating all planets associated with the Starfleet Federation. Given the circumstances of the situation and what is deduced about time travel in the film, couldn't Nero just prevent his planet from being annihilated in the first place and thus inhabit an alternate reality where the planet isn't destroyed? Does he really have to go through the trouble of tracking down Starfleet ships and making their captains watch as their home planets are wiped off the face of galaxy? It seems like time and resources wasted to me. This is the type of flaw inherent in most all time travel films, but I guess the easier route wouldn't make for blockbuster material, would it?

Despite a few picky hang-ups, to find serious fault in Star Trek would be to scrutinize it meticulously. This is a superb science fiction film that can proudly wear the heritage of a franchise that is nearly fifty years old. Abrams has not pandered to the Trekkies nor conceded his vision for movie audiences unfamiliar with this space adventure; instead he has found a great balance between the two. In a time in which franchises from years past are finding reboots and long-lost sequels, the Star Trek name deserved to boldly go once more, and boldly go it has.