Star Trek!

With an exclamation point, it becomes, in some sense, a musical. Don't ask questions, that's just the way the world works.

Of COURSE I saw it. The only remarkable detail is that I didn't see a midnight showing. You can only stomach so many really late nights. I preferred to be awake and alert on first viewing. Plus, it's cheaper. So perhaps not so remarkable a detail after all.

One thing demands to be said first: I am not a big Star Trek fan, or "Trekkie" as they are sometimes designated. I enjoy several of the films, and grew up watching "The Next Generation" occasionally, so I know who Kirk and Picard are, and the name "Enterprise" comes to mind fairly easily when someone mentions the space ship from the franchise. I even know a little bit about the Borg. But for the most part, I don't subscribe to the notion that much of what has been created within that whole universe is very good.

But it has potential. I DO like science fiction. I'm picky, but I love the good stuff. And most of everything I've seen that has the name "Star Trek" attached to it has been abominably disappointing because it turns out that the artists have eyes that are bigger than their abilities. Their concepts were better than their TV shows or their movies, but oh those concepts....

So we turn to J.J. Abrams, the man who decided to start at square one and rebuild a dying empire. If anyone could pull it off, he could.

And he did it. Oh my word, he did it.

The new film is everything I've always wished a Star Trek movie would be. The action is thrilling and beautiful, the special effects are groundbreakingly good, and the pace is perfect for the story in every single well-crafted scene. And happily accompanying these incomparably high production values, the writing is superb and the characters were brilliantly cast and directed.

This is not only Star Trek at its best (which is to say, as it's never been), this is science fiction at its most thrilling. We got a real space adventure, people! I've rarely ever had SO MUCH FUN in a movie.

If you like action and adventure in your movies, see this one. If you're a sci-fi geek, see it. If you're a Star Trek fan, odds are good that you'll love this latest and greatest installment. If you've never seen a Star Trek movie, and have never cared to, there's still a very good chance you'll have a great time watching this one.

OK, everyone, this summer of blockbusters has officially started.

(PS Wolverine sucked. And that's all I'll ever say.)