Wiping the slate clean

Rating: 7/10 (11 May 2009)

It's understandable how die hard Trek fans would be disappointed in this movie. I wasn't. This definitely was NOT my Father's 'Star Trek.'
It was good to see how some of the characters began and interesting to see now how the loss of a parent to Kirk and Spock would add some strength to their soon to be friendship. I was a little disappointed in Kirk's Kobyashi Maru test. I was hoping they'd go more from the book of the same title where Kirk reprograms the simulation to have the Klingon's cowering at his feet when they discover they were firing upon "THE Captain James T. Kirk" and subsequently offering assistance to help.
I thought it was good how the writers stuck to character canon. With the death of Kirk's father, we see a ballsier, more confident/ cockier, borderline arrogant Kirk, possibly "acting out" in his early years over anger at how he lost his father or knowing the heroic deed he did giving his life to save his crew. What I didn't know about was Kirk's genius, pointing out how his test scores were off the charts. The use of Leonard Nimoy to bridge both universes was also a cool idea.
I've read people pan the use of "Red Matter" but come on, folks, this is science FICTION. We don't know what they'll come up with four hundred years from now. I mean, cell phones looking like communicators and just about everyone uses blue tooth which looks a lot like Uhura's ear piece these days.
Some of the things complained about in other reviews are trivial. Kirk "drafted" McCoy in TMP to get him on board the Enterprise, only fitting McCoy would use a Starfleet regulation to get Kirk on. Fast promotions? I've seen and heard of promotions simply by handing a leader a pen when he had none while I served in the military. Pike knew Kirk's potential and it could also be a matter of "right person in the right place at the right time" when he promoted him to First Officer, which Spock didn't know about when he had him removed from the ship. Granted someone could have spoken up, but if you get caught up in the moment, you tend to forget.
Kirk had to mutiny. It was for the safety of the ship and crew and it was his duty to show Spock he was emotionally compromised. Anything less would have been a dereliction. Besides, we've always known Kirk was a bit of a maverick; he offered assistance to the crew of the enemy ship but was refused, and since the writers felt we need a good space battle we got to see some cool special effects.
Using a cadet crew to chase a villain? They did that in ST2 and no one seemed to mind. Sometimes trial by fire is the best way to learn, and learn to perform under pressure. Experience is the best teacher. Had Sulu known how to pilot, they might have been destroyed with the rest of the Federation ships and let's not forget the Kilngon armada wiped out by the Nerada.
So, to me, the slate is wiped clean, and they can take the franchise into a totally different direction. The characters stayed true to canon, although seeing Spock's interaction with his father admitting "I married your mother not just because it was logical, but because I loved her." was a refreshing new twist, admitting they have emotions rather than staunchly repressing them, and I feel that gave Sarek more strength.
Spock will always be a child of two worlds, so we get/ got to see him embrace his human half a bit better, like the Spock of Star Trek 2. He wasn't rigidly cold and logical in that movie, but calmer, more at peace with his human half, and I liked seeing that in this movie; from both Spocks. Zachary Quinto performed well in the role. Chris Pine had Shatner's arm swagger down, Karl Urban was brilliant as McCoy, Simon Pegg gave a good rendition as Scotty, and Anton Yelchin did well as Chekov. (I find it funny people panned him or his Russian accent, and he's from Russia in real life.)
In essence, this movie showed us (well, me, anyway) that we can never know what repercussions came about once certain things are set in motion (the aforementioned destruction of Kirk's father and his ship, the Kelvin) but also sometimes destiny plays a hand in that each of the characters still get together on the Federation flagship to boldly go where no one has gone before.
For those extra critical of the script, I offer you a quote from the movie:
"I dare you to do better."