No spoilers.  When you have low expectations (thanks to the awful recent history), a good movie can really leave a lasting impression.  Now don’t get me wrong, I am a long-time fan (though no die-hard Trekkie can be found here), and I’ve appreciated the franchise’s 33-year run thus far … but with the last couple movies and series being mediocre at best, I wasn’t expecting to be wowed.

But I was.  Wow.  This movie is packed with great plot twists, characters, action, and twists.  Its no surprise at this point, but Leonard Nimoy makes a guest appearance and it’s well received.  And although Zachary Pinto (Heroes, 24) has been who Hollywood chose to point the spotlight at, Chris Pine (Smoking Aces) really captures his character best.  Pinto is a great Spock (and probably the best person to pull it off ), and the other characters are great on their own as well … but Pine’s representation of Kirk is dead-on and fun to see at the young age.  The other characters are good, funny, and enjoyable – but nothing special.  This movie is mostly about the relationship between Spock and Kirk, and its fun to watch develop.  Oh yeah, and Bones steals every scene he’s in, just like he used to.

Lastly, for the real Trekkie fanatics out there, J.J. Abrams did a great job of incorporating easter eggs in the film to retain story continuity and fan-fun.  When we meet Scotty, he can be seen with a Tribble.   The first captain of the Enterprise when the show aired in 1966 was called Christopher Pike, who was soon replaced by James Kirk.  And, Checkov still can’t pull off the English hard “v” sound.  This is a fun movie, I definitely will see it again.  And now I have a burning desire to go back and watch the first movies/episodes.  Well done Star Trek, you managed to revive a dying legacy with a new young crowd.  Dad, go see your first movie in theaters since 1997, you’ll be happy you did.