As we enter the second week of the summer it already looks very bleak for any other film to captivate like Star Trek. 40 plus years of cultural significance and multiple incarnations, JJ Abrams has managed to take Gene Rodenberry creation and give it a polished makeover while keeping all the sacred parts of Trek in tact and on full display. An action sci-fi adventure this revitalization of Star Trek bodly goes where no Trek has gone before including Wrath of Khan.

From the first 10 minutes of the film captivating the audience with well crafted space battles and space naval simulation JJ Abrams immediately shows his panache for capturing the attention of everyone in theater by stylistically withholding sounds of explosions and people screaming to show the coldness and fear of space while simultaneously gripping us with Kirk’s mother laboring to bring him into the world while his father fights to buy enough time to save everyone. All these dramatic events captured with no sound and the emotion of Michael Giacchino’s score filling the scene instantly provided a space operatic feel that for the first 10 minutes of the film you can’t expect anything to get better the rest of the movie.

JJ Abram’s Star Trek is a vision of not only maturing a 40 year old franchise but to take that franchise and breathe new life into it. By casting virtual unknowns to play pivotal iconic characters Abrams allowed for Trek’s brand name to completely re-brand itself in the name of Spock.

When it was announced that Heroes star Zachary Quinto was going to play Spock at the 2007 Comic-Con no one could have expected his performance to not only work but to embody everything about Spock that Leonard Nimoy had brought to the character but also he controls the film perfectly. Quinto definitely benefited from the tutelage of Nimoy on set. Pine’s Kirk was believable as someone who does not except the no win scenario and fortifies that cockiness of the would be Captain of the Enterprise. Ultimately all characters get due face time and shine with their strategically placed moments of grandeur in the script.

Besides the epic score, unique style and improbably good leads/ensemble cast, Trek also benefits from masterful sound editing that rivals 1977’s Star Wars, which innovated modern sound editing. Pieced with masterful special and visual effects the technical portions of the movie were seemingly perfect in every way. Abrams crafts a well oiled machine that you admire, not only because of its beauty as a film but also its smooth and fluid thread from beginning to end.

Old and longtime fans of the film will snarl at the movies seemingly reset button on the franchise with creative storytelling that puts the revision into complete perspective but the familiarity of the Enterprise, Bones and world of Trek is still there which is comfortable in my opinion.

A Warp Speed of action, grace and operatic sequences makes this Trek, easily the best and the first Trek for everyone with its entertaining humor, its emotional and intense moments but also its cheek and stylish vision. This is a film with box office legs that has made Star Trek not just a cultural phenomenon but something that Trekkies and Non-Trekkies can agree on and that is – this movie is one hell of a thrill ride from beginning to end.

Technical Score: 5

Critical Score: 4

Total: 9 out of 10