Live Long, And Prosper

WARNING: SPOILERS!!!

If you're like me and you hate hearing the details of movies before seeing them, read no further. I'm not going to give away huge details, but I can't give an accurate review without giving away key elements.

Good old J.J. Abrams...is there an old series that he can't put a fresh spin on? First he did the awesome "Mission Impossible 3" and now he's single handedly revived the previously flatlines Star Trek.

I'm a total Trekkie (well, maybe not totally since I'm not one of those geeks who insist on being called a "Trekker"). So I guess I fall under the same group that was a bit wary when the details first came out that a remake of the original was in the works. Even worse than remake; a Re-Thinking. Something about time travel altering the established canon of Treklore.

Then I heard the JJ was in charge and a weight was lifted. This guy has an incredible knack for taking old things and offering a new spin to make them interesting again.

Without going into too much detail, his approach on the new version of Star Trek was very refreshing. The first 10 minutes of the film was an excellent mix of action and pathos. The whole scene of baby Kirk being born while Kirk senior "turned certain death into a fighting chance" could have been so cliche and trite, but the way it was presented I actually felt goosebumps all over.

The casting was pretty good. Chris Pine comes across fantastically as a young Kirk, and Zachary Quinto is the PERFECT choice for Spock. Especially the interpretation of Spock in this movie, with his eyes being able to show the seething emotion under his poised exterior. And Karl Urban totally pulls off a young McCoy.

I loved the little pieces placed in just for the fans to pick up on. Visual cues, classic lines, the orgasmic introductory scene of the Enterprise (as well as the kickass-emerging-from-the-ice-clouds shot of Saturn)...all good stuff.

Some hardcore fans have complained that the film has too much action and lacks the seriousness that is a staple in Trek. But I thought it was refreshing to see some fast paced stuff. This is a younger crew for crying out loud. You can't expect them to spend most of their time ruminating about the moralities of the Prime Directive.

If I had to find a negative, I'd say that the movie did fall victim to the usual symptoms of prequel-itis. For example there were just too many coincidences so that the final crew could be assembled together because they were meant to be (like the engineer dying like a jackass just so Scotty could fill his spot). But at least it was much better than the crap that George Lucas pulled in the Star Wars prequels. And the ending, where Kirk is made the captain of the Enterprise (coz that's what he is in the original series) was just a little too much to handle. I mean sure, he saved the earth and all, but that still doesn't justify promoting a 3rd year academy cadet to captain of the Flagship of Starfleet! Excuse me for geeking out here, but cadet, ensign, lieutenant jr grade, lieutenant, lieutenant commander, commander, captain...he skipped 6 grades (we're talking 10~15 years of normal service duty) for crying out loud. No matter how big the accomplishment, the best he could have expected was to be made lieutenant. I"m surprised that there wasn't a mutiny in amongst all senior officers against Starfleet Command for giving such a cherry position to a rookie cadet.

And in the end scene, when Spock comes aboard and offers to be the first officer...that means that there wasn't already a first officer assigned, which is totally ridiculous.

But anyways, great movie overall. Just some minor details keeping it from being totally awesome.

Oooh, and some more goodies inside the theatre (The Grand Cinema, as usual):