A for effort.

Rating: 7/10 (11 May 2009)

Much like the first Star Trek movie, this one leaves a little to be desired. I guess the "odd numbered curse" lives on! The film moves at a breakneck pace at first, and then slows down significantly with the boredom alleviated with the timely arrival of Scotty, played brilliantly and with fervor by Simon Pegg.
Abrams made it clear that this was not a Star Trek film for Star Trek fans, and this shows most evidently in the characterization of Spock. I can't really explain without giving too much away, but from a writing standpoint... if this was to be a re-launch of all that made Star Trek great for a new generation of viewers then any future revelations about Spock or Vulcan philosophy in general have been rendered somewhat meaningless. Abrams tore away all the much discussed conflicts within the vaunted philosophy of logic, and with a bit of "gleeful contempt" as well.
The villain, Nero, is unmemorable -- as is the main plot. The only refreshing change, for good or bad, is that Starfleet makes no effort to fix things! But, of course, since Abrams and company have incorporated a much hackneyed plot device to create a "new re-boot reality" for Star Trek, they couldn't fix it now, could they? A quick assessment of the cast is as follows: Chris Pine plays an excellent Kirk. He's sexy, reckless and arrogant, but his presence is one of command.
Zachary Quinto should have been great as Spock, but his portrayal is too emotional at this early stage and it's very hard to accept him in this role. One particular relationship is also hard to believe.
Eric Bana's Nero is a lackluster villain and will be forgotten.
Although Bruce Greenwood is a bit too old for the role, he makes an adequate Christopher Pike.
Karl Urban is DeForest Kelly. He seems a bit out of place in a "Star Trek movie not meant for Star Trek fans" -- but he is an absolute joy to watch in every scene.
Zoe Saldana as Uhura is a bit more "stuck up" than her predecessor, but that's to be expected, I suppose. This is the 21st century:) She's edgy, and very sexy.
Simon Pegg, Simon Pegg, Simon Pegg. I want a full on Scotty movie!! John Cho makes for a (finally) kick-butt Sulu! Anton Yelchin as Chekov was a little harder to accept. The accent was so forced, and felt like another case of "gleeful contempt" on the part of Abrams. Making fun of the accent by engaging in a hyperbolic exaggeration of it. It's only clever when you don't notice it, but the accent is omnipresent in every Chekov scene.
Ben Cross as Sarek was a brilliant casting move.
Sure, as an old Star Trek fan (I began watching it with my dad in the mid '70s, and I was named after Jeffrey Hunter and even my middle name, Christopher, was chosen because of his Pike character) I can nitpick the heck out of this movie. The science is bad (a black hole is not a wormhole), some of the continuity changes make no sense (which makes one wonder why any effort at all was made to reconcile this re-boot with the original series), etc, etc. I could go on, but it would be giving too much away.
But, all in all, it was a fun ride and is one of (if not the) best looking films in the franchise. A little shallow, perhaps, but that seems to be par for the course this movie season. So, maybe it played like a cheesy TV show sometimes but isn't that in the spirit of things? I definitely give it an A for effort. Something had to be done as the franchise had run dry more than a decade ago leading me to abandon the franchise (especially after the arrival of the far superior Babylon 5 series).
And remember. If you're going on an away mission, don't wear red!