Living long whilst prospering

Rating: 10/10 (9 May 2009)

I am not a Star Trek fan. I know who Captain Kirk is, I have heard of Spock, Scotty and a Klingon, although admittedly all I know of them is if you get one of the starboard bow you are screwed. I went to see Star Trek not to pick plot holes, inconsistencies with the original or to have a bitch in general - I went solely because it looked like a good movie.
The opening scene focuses on George Kirk, father of James T, becoming Captain of the Enterprise and rescuing eight hundred people in a total of twelve minutes, sacrificing his life in the process. The opening battle was beautifully shot - the sound of the explosions were muted and we had the pleasure of hearing a simple orchestral score over the action. It was the kind of shot a lesser movie would have ended on rather that opened with. This was a good sign.
The movie follows the known crew of the Enterprise though their first battle with the Romulans the leader of them being Eric Banas Nero whose reasons for his mass genocide of the Vulcan race was actually the most confusing in cinematic history.
The plot, apart from the confusing Romulan back-story was very strong and there were some genuinely funny moments, all of which were intentional. Simon Pegg, Karl Urban and Chris Pine were all very capable of playing such legendary characters but the casting of Winona Ryder as Spocks mother did throw me slightly -either her life of crime as aged her drastically or else her digital ageing was completely unnecessary - just cast someone of the appropriate age or if you feel the need to add a star cameo for the love of god pick an actual star!
I was pleasantly surprised about how good this movie actually was. I am glad it was an early summer blockbuster as it may have gotten lost in the Transformers2 of T4 hype but it thoroughly enjoys its success and if there is a sequel I would go and see it.
I would give the movie a rare 10/10. I don't know if it was consistent with the original series and I don't care that I probably missed a ton of in-jokes and throw backs to the TV show but what I do know from my complete and utter newbie point of view is that last night I saw a bloody impressive movie.
Bring on the sequel.