Boldly Going Where George Lucas Went Before...

Rating: 5/10 (22 January 2010)

After all the hype, is the new Star Trek "reimagining" actually any good? Well, for a big budget Hollywood spectacular, it is better than I originally expected. A fairly engaging storyline (if a little muddled at times), some amazing special effects and good performances, particularly from Chris Pine (Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (Spock). The two actors manage to capture the essence of the characters without becoming caricatures of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. Kudos also go to Karl Urban with his fun portrayal of the irascible Dr "Bones" McCoy. On the negative side, some screamingly bad CGI aliens, one too many unbelievable plot twists and coincidences and a pointless romantic sub- plot between two of Trek's iconic characters that just doesn't ring true. And whatever you do, don't mention Spock's teeth ! And I'm talking the original Spock here not Quinto's version. Let's just say that there don't seem to have been many advances in the field of dentures by the 23rd century. All in all, a good space romp, overly influenced by Star Wars but enjoyable none the less. Expect to see this franchise run and run.