That Star Trek Movie

I've never been a huge trekkie growing up, preferring that OTHER franchise and it's more fantastical elements to the exploration of space and that whole "boldly going where no man has gone before" thing. Never really got into the original Star Trek series either, and was only marginally interested in The Next Generation (we have Patrick Stewart to thank for THAT). Voyager and Deep Space Nine never even registered on my radar. However, I think I may just have to go back and revisit the franchise, and it's all thanks to the new film..

Yes, J.J. Abram's Star Trek IS that good, and there's one major reason for this: it's fun. The casting is superb, and the pace is brisk. I never once felt that things were dragging, something I can't say about Insurrection or much of the other TNG films. Even the original Star Trek film pales in comparison.

It's been said that because J.J. Abrams was an outsider, he was able to inject more life into the limping franchise and I agree. I never once felt punished for not being a Trekkie. What homages I DID catch were great, but I never felt excluded from the experience because I didn't know a damn thing about the Kobiashi-Maru test or Scotty's original backstory in the original timeline beyond coming up with a kick-ass formula. Point is, I knew enough and wasn't penalized for it, and I think it's that fact that's going to bring in a lot of new people and make Star Trek a viable franchise in the future.

Now, the real test will be to see if they can pull off a sequel..

(I hear Jon is a good screenwriter..)