Crowd-pleasing fun

Rating: 9/10 (17 January 2017)

Star Trek is the best movie of the summer so far. While I'm no Trekkie, I was able to appreciate the delicate balance between making an summer-adrenaline movie with an attractive young cast while staying true to spirit of the original series. J.J. Abrhams has, in effect, done for Star Trek what Christopher Nolan did for Batman: get rid of the cheesy elements that made the series a laughing-stock while drawing out the raw power of the core themes and characters. Just like Nolan, Abrams has allowed the nerds to say to the mainstream public: "See? That's why we're so into this!"
The story is good and the jokes hit the mark about 80% of the time, but the cast is where it's at. Chris Pine is makes for an entertainingly arrogant Kirk, and Heroes' Zachary Quinto is fine as Spock, but I'm all about the supporting cast, especially Zoe Saldana's strong Uhura, Karl Urban's (The Lord of the Rings) surprisingly funny take on Bones McCoy, and the pies de resistance, Simon Pegg, underused but awesome, as Scotty. If you've seen Shaun of the Dead and/or Hot Fuzz, you know Simon Pegg is the shiz. The Leonard Nimoy cameo is perfect, the action thrilling. My grade: A