Star Trek is dead, long live Star Trek. I think that’s the tone aimed for and achieved by J.J. Abrams in making this re-imaged/prequel/re-launch of the 43-year-old franchise. Warnings said that die hard Trekkers should stay away, but why? I would never refer to myself as die hard, I neither own a Starfleet uniform nor am I able to recite episodes chapter and verse. I will say that I’m a fan, and as a fan I just wanted a good Star Trek movie. Whether it’s cannon or not, a prequel or a sequel, all I wanted to see were 2 hours of vision and cinematic ambition that didn’t wear the series baggage like the weight of Jacob Marley’s chains.

Well, mission accomplished J.J. This Star Trek is probably the first film with a truly cinematic scope since Star Trek the Motion Picture. No one will accuse Abrams effort for being either cheap or feeling like a bloated 2-hour episode. As a bonus though, this film is extremely accessible, cutting down on the technobabble and focusing on the characters and their relationships, and when all else fails, some really sweet looking effects. And although it pays lip service to cannon by explaining how the two versions of the Trek Universe can sit side-by-side, frankly, I could have lived without. Nothing grinds proceedings to a halt more than explaining time paradoxes.

Fortunately, that’s only about three minutes out of the two hour plus running time. The focus is on two guys named Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto), two very different young men, both with something to prove, and destined to become best friends and comrades in arms. Kirk arrives at Starfleet Academy with a chip on his shoulder, his father having died a hero saving 800 lives on the U.S.S. Kelvin. Spock comes to Earth after growing up on Vulcan, struggling with his emotions and his half-human ancestry. He also has something to prove: a destiny to call his own.

But all bets are off when Nero arrives (Eric Bana). A Romulan from more than a century in the future that witnessed the destruction of his world and blames the one man that could have prevented it: Spock. Or rather, make that the older Spock (played again by Leonard Nimoy in his first film role since 1991’s Star Trek VI). Bana disappears into Nero thanks to a sparse though effective make-up job, which thankfully doesn’t include the ugly Romulan cranial ridges from Star Trek Nemesis. But Nero is probably, the most sympathetic villain in Trek history, his motivation a combination of vengeance and penance. He doesn’t get a lot of screen time, but it doesn’t matter because the film’s not about him.

Yes, the focus is on the new model original crew, all of whom are excellent even in spite of Anton Yelchin’s nearly over-the-top Russian accent. I especially owe an apology to Karl Urban because I never thought in a million years that the guy that played rough rider Eomer in Lord of the Rings, would be good as the crotchety, country doctor “Bones” McCoy. Of all the cast, it’s Urban that strikes the best balance between homage to his character’s predecessor and coming out with a new twist on the personality. Pine though doesn’t try to mimic Shatner, thankfully, but he finds the right balance of leadership and machismo to create the spirit of Kirk regardless. Quinto’s Spock was a little more emotional then we’re used to but I think it was fascinating to see a Vulcan character treated with nuance for a change rather than just portraying them as emotionless automatons.

But a Spock that’s a little more terse isn’t the only noticeable shift in this Trek. The smart thing Abrams and his writers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, did was find a way to combine the old and the new. What’s new is that there’s some kind of acknowledgement of Earth culture. In Trek’s past everything’s always Romulan ale and Klingon opera, but in this movie young Kirk goes for a joyride in his stepfather’s classic car while blaring the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” from the Nokia PDA on the dash. For fans there are the usual in-jokes and asides, like Scotty’s (Simon Pegg) jab that he tested one of his transporter experiments on “Admiral Archer’s prize beagle.”

But while tips of the hat to the fans are fun for those in the know, the bottom line is that the number of people filling those seats in the theatre was dwindling. If Abrams’ Trek feels drastic, it does because it is drastic and boy did the franchise need it. The series needs new blood and new fans, and if there’s one thing that this film does well, it’s peel away all the rules and all the baggage so that Star Trek can be something everybody can enjoy again. Like Casino Royale and Batman Begins, a new groundwork’s been laid that works both on the level of dramatic satisfaction and popcorn movie theatrics. Live long and prosper, new franchise, and may the Force be with you.

Wait, that’s not right. Never mind.