Fun film if you suspend all disbelief

Rating: 6/10 (2 October 2009)

I, like most people who watched this movie, am a fan of the original series and the various movies/spin-offs that have come out in the decades since, so when I'd heard all the positive reviews about this film, and knowing the director behind it, I was full of hope. And while the film is fun to watch, I found it far too contrived to be really enjoyable. What follows contains some mild spoilers.
The crew's first mission after graduating from the Academy is to respond to a situation on the planet Vulcan. The Captain, Christopher Pike, is played by a 50ish Bruce Greenwood, and his second in command is Spock. Kirk is in his early 20s. When the captain leaves the ship, he leaves Spock in command, who eventually leaves Kirk in charge. Then when Kirk leaves, he leaves Chekhov in charge. How realistic is it to have a 22 or 23 year old in command of a starship? Or a 17 year old Chekhov?? This is where the suspension of disbelief starts. Kirk has zero practical experience yet he's soon in command of the Enterprise. So he's the third most senior officer on board? And Chekhov the fourth at the age of 17??
At another point in the story Spock drops off a troublesome Kirk on a frozen planet, and as Kirk is running for his life to escape the local wildlife, he runs into a cave where Spock (from the future) just happens to be hiding. Realistic? You decide.
Finally, at the end of the movie we pretty much have the entire crew we all know and love together on the Enterprise, all 20somethings (except for Spock). So are we supposed to believe that the whole crew stayed together for 20 years, at which time they would have started their "five-year mission"?
If you can ignore those three huge suspensions of disbelief, or if you're new to the series and know absolutely nothing about the military chain of command, then you'll be sure to enjoy this movie a lot more than I did.