Star Trek: Into Darkness is a hoot. It’s fun and fast-paced, hurtling from one side of the galaxy to the other and then back again. It’s both accessible for newcomers to the “Star Trek” mythology and rewarding for fans who know all the in-jokes. It brings back the best villain of the old “Star Trek” series and movies (though I’m not supposed to tell you that).

Director J.J. Abrams is perhaps the best handler of big, complicated set pieces this side of Christopher Nolan. “Into Darkness” throws us immediately into one, as Kirk sprints through bright red alien terrain trying to escape chalky white dudes while Spock attempts to defuse a volcano. It doesn’t go as planned, and the Prime Directive gets violated. Spock, of course, issues a full report to Starfleet while Kirk tries to sweep the whole thing under the rug. As a result, he finds himself relieved of his position as captain of the USS Enterprise.

Note to all Trekkies out there: if you’re ever appointed captain of a ship, particularly the one I just named, and Kirk just happens to be unemployed, do not, I repeat, DO NOT make him your first officer, no matter how tempting that might be. That’s the mistake Bruce Greenwood makes, and it’s not long before he’s just a red smear on the wall, the victim of a terrorist attack launched by Benedict Cumberbatch, who goes by the name of John Harrison and wears an ominous all-black Starfleet uniform. Clearly he is not who he seems to be. Ah, but who is he?

So Kirk is back in charge of his ship, sent on a secret mission to bomb the heck out of Cumberbatch on the Klingon homeworld without upsetting the Klingons too much. But something’s fishy here, and Spock in particular objects to the idea of killing Harrison instead of bringing him back into civilized space and giving him a fair trial (The Vulcan in him wouldn’t be too happy with President Obama’s drone program).

So Kirk decides to capture instead of kill him, and well, that’s where things get messy.

Some will complain that this isn’t the spirit of “Star Trek,” that it’s not supposed to be about hurtling through space chasing bad guys with no time to slow down and consider the moral and ethical implications of one’s actions. It’s not supposed to be a space western, darn it; it’s supposed to be a space philosophy discourse. That critique is valid, but who cares? “The Wrath of Kahn” is my favorite “Star Trek” movie for two reasons: it’s the most action-packed and it has the best villain. You can keep the killer whales, Spock’s adolescence and Kirk’s search for heaven.

The best moment in all the movies—and maybe all the TV shows too—is bloody, dying Ricardo Montalban seething, “From hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee!” This new “Star Trek” reboot is much more in that vein.

Cumberbatch is such a great bad guy. He is cool and confident, able to project both supreme intelligence and intimidating physicality at the same time. Lately it’s seemed like all our bad guys are modeled on the Joker—Tom Hiddleston in “Avengers,” Javier Bardem in “Skyfall”—so it’s refreshing to find a bad guy who never so much as cracks a smile.

The moment Leonard Nimoy appeared on the screen, I knew where we were headed, and I was loving every second of it—a whole new set of reversals, including a key one where Kirk does what he thinks Spock would do in his place, while Spock does what he thinks Kirk would do. Into Darkness is still very much about the relationship between these two heroes, one who can’t help but listen to his gut, the other disciplined to listen to the dictates of logic. Everyone else swirls around them, sometimes unconvincingly—Dr. McCoy has always been the comic relief, but his lines here are so hammy it sounds like Karl Urban is making them up on the spot. It comes across as parody, but somehow that just serves to highlight the great work Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are doing; they don’t. These two young actors are playing roles inhabited by two of America’s most beloved actors for the last half century, and they never make us wish for Shatner or Nimoy. That’s a feat worthy of praise and accolade.

Star Trek: Into Darkness is a movie that had me smiling from beginning to end, and well after as well.

Paramount Pictures

Note to all Trekkies out there: if you’re ever appointed captain of a ship, particularly the one I just named, and Kirk just happens to be unemployed, do not, I repeat, DO NOT make him your first officer, no matter how tempting that might be.

Willie Krischke lives in Durango, Colorado and works for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship with Native American students at Fort Lewis College. To read more of his reviews, go to http://www.gonnawatchit.com