Re-Imagining Has Run Its Course

Rating: 5/10 (18 May 2009)

Warning! Spoilers!
I want to state that I've seen some of the original series shows and movies. I enjoyed "Wrath of Khan" and the whale movie. I'm even familiar with some of the features of the series, such as Vulcan "pon farr" and the Kobayashi Maru simulation. That said, this movie is a passable contribution to the "Star Trel" franchise.
This movie follows in the tradition of "rebooting," or re-doing, a franchise from the beginning. It has been done with Batman and Superman. The results for "Star Trek" may leave a bitter taste in Trekkie's mouths. Planet Vulcan is destroyed, as is Spock's mom. Cadets at Starfleet are shoved into officer positions because of the emergency involving a mad Romulan. Uhura has the hots for Spock, and the feeling is mutual. Kirk is a pretty model torn straight from the fashion magazines (not even young Shatner was this pretty!) and is an arrogant, smug, disobedient lothario who seems ill-suited for the captaincy of a garbage scow. It's certainly not something I'd imagine die-hard Trekkies could even appreciate.
That said, the movie serves mainly as a nostalgic pastiche of the original series and movies, and offers little in the way of any new or engaging plot. It's sort of a mix of tongue-in-cheek parody and shoot-en-up CGI sci-fi light show. Some characters are exaggerated versions of the originals: Dr. McCoy is little more than a turbo-charged parody of DeForrest Kelley's original, and Chekov's Russian accent is virtually unintelligible. There are constant references to the series, meant to bring a warm and toasty feeling to Trekkies who otherwise might feel insulted by this mediocre effort: there are horny Orion slave girls(Natasha Lyonne? Well, it looked like her), Kirk's cheat of the Kobayashi Maru, and a mind-control worm identical to the Seti Eel. It's all in good fun, but don't expect great writing or anything really original. It's nothing more than a walk down memory lane with CGI. As a parody, "Galaxy Quest" did it better.
Lastly, I think the beautiful Winona Ryder is still too young to play anyone's mother! Guys with a crush on Winona might be dumbstruck that she's playing an old lady (her son played by an actor six years her junior, no less).