Not What our fathers grew up with

Rating: 10/10 (23 May 2010)

Earlier tonight I was given the pleasure of watching the latest Star Trek film and I have got to admit that it surpassed even my expectations. I was expecting a sexed up version of the original series that my dad grew up with and that I grew up with the re runs of. I was only half right. What waited for me was not only a sexed up version of what I'd grown to love over the years but a new beginning for the franchise.
The movie begins with an epic battle sequence showing the voyage of the USS Kelvin versus a monstrous Romulan vessel know as the Narada. During the battle George Kirk gives his life as the captain of the Kelvin so that the rest of the crew, including his wife and newborn son, can escape. The next part of the movie shows the son (James T Kirk) 25 years later going to star fleet academy. When a problem arises on planet Vulcan, all of the Star Fleet cadets are called to help out. When they arrive at Vulcan they find that the same ship that had destroyed the Kelvin 28 years earlier is attacking Vulcan.
This movie is absolutely fantastic, and one of the reasons for this is the casting. I know that most trekkies were rather uneasy about rebooting the series because of the casting issue but they did a fantastic job. McCoy and Spock were perfectly cast and did great jobs of taking on the characters and making them their own. Kirk was taken on by Chris Pine and this may be considered blasphemy by Trek fans but I like him as much as I liked Shatner. My favourite member had to be Scotty. He was the one person (Simon Pegg) that I knew would do a bang up job.
That is not to say the the casting was the only good thing, because the direction, special effects, and editing were all just as great. I seriously can't wait until the next movie.