A Nearly Perfect Trek Re-Awakening

Rating: 9/10 (11 March 2017)

Ever since the crew of the original NCC-1701 Enterprise signed off at the end of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", the film franchise had taken a nosedive. Besides "First Contact", all the subsequent films only served to facilitate the demise of the franchise, with "Nemesis" seemingly the final shovel-full of dirt into the coffin. With the "Original Series" cast gone, the franchise (at least in terms of box office and TV ratings, not fanboys like me who will watch it regardless of popularity!) slowly died away.
However, after young director J.J. Abrams began building a name for himself with such projects as "Alias", "LOST", and "Cloverfield", he decided to tackle the challenge of making Star Trek relevant again to today's audiences. Abrams accomplished that goal with flying colors!
Since the "Original Series" characters are still (some 40+ years removed from their show) the heart of the Star Trek franchise (people don't flock to conventions to see Scott Bakula!), Abrams resurrects them in this film by showing them in their early years of space exploration. This proves to be the biggest success of the film, as nods to TOS abound throughout the movie. Since those are the characters we care the most about, we hang on the edge of our seats to see a young Captain Kirk get a little feisty, a young Spock raise that eyebrow, or a young Leonard "Bones" McCoy utter his trademark grumbly phrases.
Along with the time-period (pre-TOS) choice, the casting is also spot-on. On can easily imagine Chris Pine growing into the Kirk popularized by William Shatner, while Zachary Quinto also portrays a very believable Spock. Perhaps the most fun character in the film to watch, though, is Karl Urban as the cantankerous (even at a young age!) Bones. The actors playing the characters of Uhura, Scotty, Chekhov, and Sulu also turn in performances that easily harken back to their TOS predecessors. An appearance from old hand Leonard Nimoy (which turns out to be a lot more than just a cameo!) also fits right in to the flow of the film, not seeming forced or desperate.
There is also a pace and energy to this movie that is relentless. Basically, all the beats happen perfectly, punctuated by a score that is perhaps the best I've ever heard in the cinema. One would think it would be more difficult to reboot what had become such a stodgy franchise, but JJ makes it look easy. I think the bottom line is that it made me remember why Star Trek stories can be so great.
Overall, then, this Star Trek is critical to the franchise because it put Star Trek on the map again. It has all the "old stuff", it has the energy of a contemporary flick, and the plot/characters are almost perfect. With the exception of "Wrath of Khan", this may be the best Trek movie of them all.