"Where no-one has gone before."

Rating: 9/10 (8 May 2009)

Without speculating the long lasting effects of this movie on the franchise's continuity, Star Trek is a brilliant movie. It offers a brilliant fresh look on the franchise while retaining enough classic elements to keep you locked in and involved with the characters.
One of the things which Star Trek does well is tell a dramatic story. Upto the point where Spock's mother dies the film feels rather well setup but after continuity becomes disrupted you're left in the dark as to how the movie ends. This shock value undoubtedly wears off on later viewings but keeps you involved none the less.
The great thing about the film is how it allows all the classic Trek-figures to don the spotlight. Uhura undoubtedly less than the guys though her involvement with Kirk and Spock does make for interesting viewing. Hands down my favorite performance came from Karl Urban as McCoy and it really felt as if DeForrest Kelley had come back from the dead. In fact all of the new actors inhabit the base-traits of their predecessors well and there is no lack of continuity experienced in the new cast, even with more outlandish casting decisions as Simon Pegg.
The only thing that's disappointing about the movie is it's emphasis on action, which is based definitely more on film marketing than cinematic artistic merit. The shaky camera-work seems most out of place for a Star Trek film but this new bold direction for the franchise only serves to launch what I believe to be a new series of films.
In all Star Trek leaves you with a great feeling that the movie has taken you through a great journey. I hope that the sequels will keep building more on the characters and that this New-Old Trek series will have a good run.
Live long and prosper.