STAR TREK is director JJ Abrams’ latest attempt to tackle an iconic TV and film franchise, and although MI:3 delivered as a throwaway popcorn flick, STAR TREK is Abrams’ crowning achievement. Left for dead after the 2002 misfire STAR TREK: NEMESIS, the franchise has been given a much needed reboot, as the latest installment focuses on James T. Kirk’s (Chris Pine) and Spock’s (Zachary Quinto) first journey on the U.S.S. Enterprise.  Eric Bana is the Romulan Nero, the villain who years ago destroyed the U.S.S. Kelvin, a starship captained by Kirk’s dad, George Kirk.  Blessed with a sharp intellect and reckless bravado, Kirk grows up in the shadow of his late father, eventually deciding to join Starfleet Academy at the behest of Captain Christopher Pike (Greenwood).  Thanks to a slightly confusing time/space continuum subplot, STAR TREK is able to expand its storied universe, most notably with a romance between Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and Spock.  Although it does have its share of action, eye-popping special effects, and witty one-liners, the movie’s most compelling moments lie the hard earned camaraderie and innate conflicts between Spock and Kirk.  And although Quinto does a first rate job as Spock (Leonard Nimoy also appears as the elder Spock) the film entirely belongs to relative newcomer Chris Pine, who effectively captures Kirk’s charismatic power over women (he beds a green lady in the beginning!), his stubbornness, and his adventuresome spirit (Pine even does a slight Shatner impersonation towards the end of the picture).  STAR TREK has always been a multicultural universe whose universal themes elevated it beyond just pure science fiction, and kudos go to Abrams for continuing Gene Rodenberry’s vision by giving breadth and depth to Bones McCoy (Karl Urban), the scene stealing Scotty (Simon Pegg), Sulu (John Cho), and Chekov (Anton Yelchin). Space may be the final frontier, but this is not the last voyage of the U.S.S. Enterprise, as STAR TREK even gives STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN a run for its money.