Space. The final frontier.

For 50 years now, the ideas of Gene Roddenberry have been brought to life on screens both large and small, and to celebrate the massive anniversary, we return to the Kelvin timeline for a third installment in the JJ Abrams rebooted universe - this is Star Trek Beyond.

With a new director behind the wheel (Fast and Furious’s Justin Lin), and a whip-smart script from geek royalty (Simon Pegg, who also plays Scotty, alongside Doug Jung), the third installment of this incarnation of Star Trek does something surprising and enjoyable: it scales down.

While this may be surprising, especially in an era of increasingly higher stakes in the world of multi-million-dollar blockbusters, the choice to focus on a team-based adventure (versus an extinction level event, as seen in 2009’s Star Trek and 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness) is what gives Beyond a fresh feeling, and allows the best part of this version of the franchise to shine - the incredible cast.

Let’s keep the synopsis of the plot simple: After an amusing opening sequence (involving some intergalactic misunderstandings) - the USS Enterprise is on year three of its five year mission. Kirk (Chris Pine) is starting to feel wary about seeing the mission through, as he wonders how much of his dedication was due to an interest in the mission, and how much was due to his need to prove people wrong.

While refueling and refocusing on the next phase of their trip at the star-base known as Yorktown, the crew are made aware of a distress call from an escape pod, drifting out of a nearby nebula. The lone occupant says she is the lone survivor of an attack - and with that, the Enterprise is back in action, looking for what happened.

Unfortunately for our crew, it was an ambush, and ship and crew alike crash land on a planet - left without a working ship, contact with the United Federation of Planets, and a need to get back to Yorktown, as the orchestrator of the ambush - an alien named Krall (Idris Elba, under considerable makeup), is aiming to destroy Yorktown and its millions of inhabitants.

The film that follows is a back-to-basics adventure with a focus on the wonderful interplay and relationships found in this version of the crew. The back and forth between the dour Bones (Karl Urban) and ultra literal Spock (Zachary Quinto) is a particular highlight, making for most of the film’s laughs. But the newest addition is one of the most interesting: a survivor on the planet, a white-skinned alien named Jaylah (Kingsmen’s Sofia Boutella) - a unique rogue, who may be the key to the Enterprise’s way out of danger, while being dangerous herself.

In many ways, what makes this movie such a delight is the focus on capital-A Adventure, as opposed to CG-based sturm und drang. The casting of the first JJ Abrams film was a remarkable stroke of luck, and seeing this crew interact with each other - as opposed to countless ships blowing up - is a joy.

That’s not to say that the movie is without strong visuals, however. Certain sequences have a sublime beauty - such as the Enterprise almost skipping like a rock on a lake, during an early hyperspace sequence - and the space port of Yorktown is a visual delight, calling to mind countless Syd Mead pieces, while bending and twisting like an MC Escher painting.

Also of note is how strong the storytelling is here - while more efficient due to the smaller scale, Pegg brings his clockwork like skills of screenwriting to the world of Trek, pulling together disparate elements from the script in the end, a’la his work with Edgar Wright. Additionally, as his work in the Fast & Furious franchise shows, Justin Lin knows how to make an ensemble cast feel like a family - and he excels with the current versions of Kirk, Spock, Bones and company.

The darkest thing in the movie is the unfortunate shadow of the real world: since the last film, the world lost the gifts of the original Spock, Leonard Nimoy, and recently, the tragic young death of Anton Yelchin (who played Chekov, in this latest revision). Their shadows cast over the film, but never consume it - as this Trek film is a celebration of them, and the work they helped create.

I admit - prior to the JJ Abrams films, I was never a Trekkie - and unlike many, I enjoyed both the 2009 reboot and Into Darkness, but what I am sure of is this: Star Trek Beyond will delight you, no matter how deep into the pool of Star Trek you’ve dived.

Much how Skyfall was a brilliant back-to-basics James Bond outing to celebrate 50 years of the iconic spy, Star Trek Beyond celebrates 50 years of Star Trek by returning to what makes it great: a belief that we can unite together and do the impossible.

Star Trek Beyond is in theaters now, and is available for pre-order via iTunes and Amazon.