‘Into Darkness’a trek worth taking

It’s all true. Tribble.

Yes, we get a Tribble sighting in “Star Trek Into Darkness,” the second installment in director J.J. Abrams’ reboot. One of those fuzzy little purring aliens plays a major part in the storyline.

The crew of the Enterprise faces a 9/11-esque challenge when a terrorist makes multiple attacks on Starfleet personnel on Earth. After causing wanton death and destruction, he beams away to the farthest reaches of friendly territory. Kirk and the gang are tasked with hunting him down, Zero Dark Thirty style.

Along the way, things of course, get complicated.

Benedict Cumberbatch makes a terrific villain, as John Harrison, who is ostensibly a former Starfleet member turned bin Laden.

Cumberbatch is a BBC It Boy who’s been showing up lately in many big Hollywood productions, “Warhorse,” “The Hobbit,” “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” He is renowned for his work on British stage, as well as the popular television series “Sherlock.” He brings a familiar and welcome Shakespearean touch to the Trek villainy proceedings.

The good guys, too, are fantastic. Abrams casting from the previous movie was superb, and they all return. There is not a weak spot in the entire crew, with extra special kudos for Chris Pine’s Kirk and Zachary Quinto’s Spock.

Also, the stuff surrounding the actors — the audio, the special effects, the 3-D rendering — are first-class, but that’s just par for most blockbusters priced at $200 million. What sets this movie apart is the ridiculously high degree of excellence that Abrams showcases in the story, the dialogue and the pacing.

He makes it seem effortless. At turns the movie is witty, suspenseful, exhilarating, dramatic, emotional. All those countless hours on long, multiple season television series (“Lost” and “Alias”) have really paid off for him. He has honed himself into becoming become this generation’s Spielberg.

Perhaps because he is a “remake” of Spielberg, he does such a great job with the Trek reincarnation. There have been very few reboots where the filmmaker makes the movie his own, yet can still give so much homage to the original.

Abrams shows a special gift for making “Star Trek” into something for everyone. This movie plays well for passionate Trek geeks, action movie lovers, science fiction fans, eye candy seekers or teeny-boppers who think Quinto or Zoe Saldana are soooo hot.

This seems to bode well for the prospects of the Abrams’ upcoming Star Wars movies.