95%

Fresh

These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. And these are the transmissions incoming from our critics:

"120 minutes of unrelenting goose bumps." (Brian Orndorf, DVDTalk.com)

"Thanks to Abrams and his cast, this franchise may live long and prosper for another four decades." (Ethan Alter, Film Journal International)

"Paced at warp speed with spectacular action sequences rendered brilliantly and with a cast so expert that all the familiar characters are instantly identifiable." (Ray Bennett, The Hollywood Reporter)

"The new and improved Star Trek will transport fans to sci-fi nirvana." (Todd McCarthy, Variety)

Over the past few weeks, reviews for J.J. Abrams's Star Trek have been trickling in, virtually all filled with praise for sci-fi reboot for its production value, high-concept action sequences, and, last but not least, the cast. With the reviews overwhelmingly Fresh, the Enterprise crew has safely landed in Certified Fresh territory.

But will that appease die-hard Star Trek fans, who are decidedly no longer the franchise's target audience?

"The truth is that we found ourselves missing the old cast," writes James O'Ehley of Sci-Fi Movie Page, "But most audiences won't care. Star Trek works fine when taken on its own terms as a modern special effects-driven action flick."

"In a way, Star Trek is this year's Iron Man," notes Orlando Parfitt in his overall Fresh IGN UK review, "Both were superbly cast...but also seriously hampered by badly conceived storylines and humdrum action sequences."

And the first Rotten review comes from reliable contrarian Armond White of the New York Press: "These action/comic book/TV/fantasy/CGI flicks are not about plot. Their only purpose: teaching audiences to watch movies crudely, as teenagers, as a boy. At that, Wolverine and Star Trek succeed damnably."

However, it's unlikely we'll see a precipitous drop in the Tomatometer (like with last week's Wolverine). The rest of the critics are doling out admiration for the Star Trek, with these reviews coming from a wide lineup of trades, genre sites, and everything in-between.

"It's hard to express in mere words how wonderful J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot is, especially for a worn in the wool die-hard Trek head like yours truly," reports Bill Gibron from his PopMatters blog.

And writes New York Magazine's David Edelstein: "If you care about this universe (and I do, damn it), you won't sit passively through J.J. Abrams's restart Trek. You'll marvel at the smarts and wince at the senselessness. You'll nitpick it to death and thrill to it anyway."

Keep tabs on Star Trek's Tomatometer by regularly checking its movie page.