A gutsy, brave and ultimately exciting new Trek boldly goes into the 21st century!

Rating: 9/10 (9 May 2009)

Right off the top, there will be MANY who will be angry with the JJ Abrams' new take on Star Trek; and that is understandable, to some extent. This is a Star Trek with a brave, new "take no prisoners" attitude. It is very kinetic and more 'space opera' than earlier entries, and it has some very hard consequences (no reset buttons here, folks; this version of Trek's timeline is indeed changed). But I found it to be precisely what the stagnant franchise needed: An injection of fresh blood! The plot is rather simple; a wronged Romulan mining captain Nero (Eric Bana, playing a nice sketch rather than a full character) from the 24th century is thrown back in time to the 23rd, and seeks revenge on Spock and the Federation for their perceived role (from his POV) in the destruction of his homeworld. And like a bull in a china shop, his actions rewrite much of the 23rd century's 'history'; resulting in this movie's exciting new playground...an alternate version of the classic, 1960s 23rd century Trek brought up-to-date for the 21st century. To lend the new production a sense of legitimacy, Leonard Nimoy's "Spock Prime" is also thrown back in time as a sort of a 'passing of the baton' to this familiar, but new crew.
The film takes many potentially alienating chances with the franchise (such as with the destruction of two major Trek planets and a recurring character). But these moves were made courageously; without a finger poised over the infamous Trek 'reset button.' A very bold move. And to this old Trekkie (hate the name Trekker; too pretentious), it paid off handsomely. And this is perhaps the best-looking Trek movie EVER. The budget is all up on screen. The old/revised Enterprise looks absolutely gorgeous; her best incarnation since the first movie. The bridge is bright, and a bit 'i-pod' looking; but it grows on you. I had a nit with the engine room, though (looks like a brewery, guys; sorry! And steam turbines?? The ship is NOT atomic-powered, and even today's nuclear reactors would look more modern, frankly). It doesn't fit the high-tech, but gritty look of the rest of the ship. Didn't care for Nero's mining ship/weapon, either. Looked very impractical, and way too much like the enemy ship in the last film, 2002's dreadful "Nemesis" (a film I'd rather forget, thank you). Visually, the mining ship lacked a cohesive shape; like a giant, space-borne porcupine. But otherwise, everything in this incarnation of Trek is very pleasing to behold; and it was a also great to see MANY homages and references to the old series (Scotty has a pet tribble on Delta Vega, and poor Captain Pike STILL winds up in a wheelchair, though not crippled and mutilated this time....yet!).
But to me, the ONE element that really made it all work for me was the CHARACTERS! And kudos to the new cast, esp Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban as Kirk, Spock and McCoy, respectively. They did NOT settle for cheap imitations; they really 'channeled' these guys and there were many moments where it felt like the classic series characters were reborn with fresh energy and no limits! The supporting characters did fairly well with their interpretations, though I felt that Simon Pegg and Anton Yelchin as Scotty and Chekov were often played for broad laughs, often at the expense of characterization. But, then again, this often happened in the classic series as well, I reminded myself. It's a reboot of 1960s Star Trek, not Shakespeare. So, I decided to go with the ride and have fun with it. Besides, Chris Pine's Kirk and Karl Urban's McCoy were phenomenal; far exceeding my expectations. Quinto plays a Spock not yet in control of his emotions, and it is a nice (and interesting) nuance he adds to the character. Contrasts well with Nimoy's 'at peace' Spock character from the 'future'.
And that's what really made this whole new, blazing Star Trek roller-coaster so much fun for me; the central characters really leaped off of the screen. And now that they are allowed to exist again in this 'alternate timeline' with great new actors interpreting them, they can BOLDLY GO into this new 21st century take on old Star Trek. I can't wait to see where they go with this re-booted franchise. Hope it lives long and prospers!