“Space… the Final Frontier, these are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

It’s been 40 years since Star Trek was concieved by Gene Roddenberry, and in four decades, Star Trek has become a cultural phenomenon. Numerous series, movies and books have all revolved around this work of fiction. It’s been a real pity that after all these years, the entire franchise was nearly worked to death.

Till now, that is.

A prequel of sorts, the new Star Trek movie tells an alternate story of how the crew of the USS Enterprise formed. Primarily focusing on the histories of Captain James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock, the movie’s chronology is a parallel one to that of the original series due to a time traveling mishap.

This movie has renewed Star Trek for a new generation of fans, and has surpassed all of the previous movies in the Star Trek universe.

Directed by JJ Abrams of Lost fame, the movie itself is mostly action, with some drama and romance thrown in for good measure. It sounds formulaic, but the combination of a good script, good effects and good acting elevates it to must watch status. Chris Pike as Kirk showed a very strong performance, pulling off just the right amount of careless arrogance to flesh out the character. Likewise, Zachary Pinto played the normally emotionless Mr. Spock to the dot, rejuvenating the most immortal character in the Star Trek universe. Of course, the original Spock, Leonard Nimoy, shows up in the movie as well.

Among the star studded cast were Eric Bana as the primary antagonist, Nero, along with John Cho as Hikaru Solo and Simon Pegg as Mr. Scott.

This leads me to a minor niggle with the film. I’m quite sure you’re all aware of the movies “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle” and “Shaun of the Dead”, which were both excellent comedies and starred John Cho and Simon Pegg respectively. After these movies, it becomes harder to take them seriously, leading to some rather “No, really” moments in the film. Don’t let this detract you from the film though, it’s only nitpicking because there were few flaws with the movie!

With a strong plot, excellent effects, good acting, this movie should be on your must watch list for this year’s summer blockbuster season!

ps: For maximum effect, watch in a THX cinema.

I give it a strong 8.5/10.