The Star Trek Franchise: "She's Very Much Alive, Jim!"

I have been a Trekker (the politically-correct term . . . as opposed to Trekkie), since I was a little girl mesmerized by the original series.

So even though I took William Shatner's Saturday Night Live advice and "got a life" (not exactly the one I wanted, but a life all-the-same), I've followed the franchise through all of its TV (TNG was a favorite) & movie incarnations.

I've also enjoyed some of the fan fiction (that went to some really far-out places the series could never go). It was with great pleasure last month that I arranged a collection of well-worn paperbacks on a shelf in my new office/library.

My favorite characters were DeForest Kelley's irascible "Bones" McCoy (the only bit of Star Trek memorabilia that I own - apart from Enterprise Christmas ornaments - is an autographed photo of the late/great/deeply blue-eyed Mr. Kelley as "Bones", which shall shortly hang in my aforementioned new office) and Leonard Nimoy's calm/very cool/collected Spock.

Alas, while I've adored William Shatner in all of his hamish acting vehicles over the years, the character of Kirk (who completed the Gene Roddenberry's original trifecta of leading men), never completely resonated with me.

That has changed with J.J. Abrams/Bad Robot Productions' marvelous, wonderful, inspired, damned-near perfect entry into the Star Trek franchise . . . one that pays dutiful homage to old episodes/films/characters (the only thing missing was a troublesome tribble) but shakes the Star Trek universe to its very core. And it is in the shaking that new life is breathed into the franchise.

As a Trekker, you could sit in the theater and anticipate/mouth the lines of the very familiar characters even as the universe & future you know-like-the-back-of-your-hand crumbled around them.

(Spoiler alert) a distinct possibility for a sequel (or sequels) is also presented . . . something that figures out how to reverse what this movie does and restores the planet Vulcan/its civilization.

I have faith. Anything can happen in the Star Trek universe. Even when Bones pronounces 'em dead, sometimes they're not really dead;)

Chris Pine's James Tiberius Kirk, who still like his women green and his rules broken, commands this movie but does not overwhelm it. And the casting is SPOT-ON/FRICKING AMAZING . . . particularly Zachary Quinto as Spock, Karl Urban as McCoy (I am in love all over again), and Simon Pegg as Scotty (a classic/beloved character is reborn).

(Insert Scottish accent), "I like this ship! It's exciting!"

Hell, I even liked Chekov (who in this movie had some spunk). And I never liked Chekov. As "Mr. Wuff" would say, that's "Qapla!"

Any true Trekker will tell you that the best Star Trek movie ever made (prior to this one) was 1982's "Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan". Indeed, some fans would argue (I was one for a while) that Spock should have stayed dead (since the Genesis planet did not work in real life and the original actors were getting very long-of-tooth).

But this afternoon, after seeing the movie (and vowing to see it again . . . and to buy the DVD and maybe even the soundtrack), I am so very glad that Mr. Spock has lived this long.

He will, no doubt, prosper.

So "Buckle up, Bones!" Resistance is futile:)