Grinning the whole time

Rating: 9/10 (14 May 2009)

When I first heard they were going to do yet ANOTHER Star Trek movie, I groaned in pain. I like Star Trek, but I'm not a fanboy. Actually, my action figure collection is varied... from a Sigmund Freud, Muppet character to Mr. Incredible (Thanks to my family). However I did start musing over the idea, wondering if Archer would be in the Captains chair this time or would they resurrect Jean Luc Picard or James T. Kirk; then the rumors started surfacing about a prequel surrounding Starfleet Academy. OK, Kirk.
But instead of getting let down and annoyed, short teasers started appeared online and my curiosity was prodded. An odd cast was selected that didn't quite strike me as trekkish until cast pictures in full makeup were available. The teaser clips began to reveal more character development, and action. Good. They looked good. Action is good. Familiarity is good. I began to get more interested. SPOILER: The plot involved time travel and vengeance with some very high-tech sequences and stunts. The Romulan world is destroyed and one Romulan blames a member of the crew of the Enterprise and wants all of the Federation to suffer his loss.
That's a pretty tall order, but then again if you have a really big ship (a converted Romulan mining vessel) with some really evil weapons onboard, this no longer is just a fanboy movie, but the making of a good summer blockbuster... and it's going to be a hard one to beat (until Half Blood Prince takes its place). This movie takes its time but it's not slow. The friendships and bonds follow a surprising wayward path yet you know how they end up, the development between Kirk, Bones and Spock being a primary focus. It is amazing how well they honor the original roles and maintain the banter and playfulness of the original series. This release may well allow the franchise to live longer and prosper.
I was grinning the entire movie... that's how it affected me. Even though flawed, it was one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had since Jackson release his Lord of the Rings trilogy. Yes I said flawed. Every movie has them in my opinion whether it is there as comic relief or totally wrong twist in the plot. Without spoiling it, I felt the placement of introduction to certain key people weren't as intelligently thought out, some lines dealing with time travel were crossed, some weapons were a little too ill conceived if for a scifi future-world as well as many small incongruous details that just may be too trivial to mention here. As a total package though, it works, and delightfully well I might add. As I said, I was grinning the whole time.
I plan to see this again on the big screen which has only happened in a few instances. To truly revive the nearly dead Trek enterprise they will need to continue with this crew and give them something "trekish" to pursue. I don't think I could take another TV spin off, but an occasional trip to a theater to see what the crew of the Enterprise are up to wouldn't be totally out of the question.