"Star Trek" is a stellar gem of a film

Star Trek (2009)*****

From nydailynews,

Mission accomplished.

It takes a lot of guts to try to beam a new "Star Trek" into audiences' minds. Serious fans of the sci-fi citadel have high standards, and newcomers can find four decades of mythology daunting. Plus, the franchise is a battered old bird after too many TV spinoffs and awful movies.

A no-win scenario? Nope. The new "Star Trek" is more than a coat of paint on a space-age wagon train. It's an exciting, stellar-yet-earthy blast that successfully blends the hip and the classic. And while it has young actors in iconic roles, don't worry Trekkies, a time-travel plot acknowledges previous stories.

In the 23rd century, James Tiberius Kirk grows up knowing his dead father was a legend in Starfleet, Earth's diplomatic cosmic force. The hard-living, headstrong young Kirk - played by Chris Pine - lives by his own code and makes his own rules (as evidenced by one of several scenes that echo the series' second, definitive film, 1982's "The Wrath of Khan.")

Pushed to join Starfleet by Capt. Pike (Bruce Greenwood), Kirk boards the newly commissioned Enterprise just as an evil Romulan (Eric Bana) attacks the ship in search of science officer Spock (Zachary Quinto). When Pike is captured, a future Spock (Leonard Nimoy, of course) urges Kirk to lead the crew, which eventually includes Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Sulu (John Cho) and Chekov (Anton Yelchin).

Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman's script moves fast, but there is an elegance here, helped by Michael Giacchino's lovely score.

Though continuity is respected (miniskirts, pistol-shaped phasers and catch phrases have successfully been transported to 2009), the movie's strength is its action and casting.

Pine is emboldened by the challenge of stepping into William Shatner's famous boots, not beholden to a legacy. Quinto goes beyond a Nimoy impersonation to give a flesh-and-blood performance, and Karl Urban does a fun, spot-on take on DeForest Kelley's Leonard (Bones) McCoy, the ship's cranky physician.

Of the rest, Cho and Saldana stand out admirably; Yelchin and Pegg mostly rely on funny accents.

There are a few troublesome quibbles: early scenes, trying to be fresh, have a loud, punky quality, and there's still no need for weirdo aliens.

But the Kirk-Spock bond is the fuel, and the movie honors it. Juicing up established genres is director J.J. Abrams' ("Alias," "Lost") strong suit. With this reenergized "Star Trek" - from a short-lived '60s TV show that died before it became a pop-cultural cornerstone - Abrams and company have brought us back to the future.