This IS Your Fathers and All Generations Star Trek

Rating: 10/10 (25 May 2009)

This Movie Rocks. I am a fan of the original series. I watched all of them when they originally aired as a kid and was heartbroken when the series was canceled. I have seen all the big screen movies and was a fan on the Next Generation to a point. I had thought the Star Trek star was fading for good.
J.J. Abrams changed all that. This movie ensures that the Enterprise will be boldly going wherever the hell it wants to for more than the foreseeable future. This is a celebration of all things Star Trek.
The Writing:
I saw this at the Writer's Guild Theater in LA. This is a tough audience I can tell you. After the first ten minutes or so the atmosphere was like a bunch of giddy kids at a matinée. If you can have critical bitchy-ass writers in the pocket with you, laughing at all the laugh points and oh sh*ting at all the oh sh*t points, you know you have a well-written script.
And the script is great. It's got a bunch of Trek friendly stuff all woven together as an origin story. You got the Khan like character in an unrecognizable Eric Bana. You have a black hole creating globule thingy. You have a parallel life/universe thingy. You have an original cast member blessing the new crew thingy. And all the thingies work perfectly together. Oh and Christopher Pike, the original Captain of the Enterprise, follow that thread and you will find one of the most original, challenging and heart-full double episodes of television ever.
The Cast:
When I first saw Chris Pine was going to be the new Captain Kirk, I thought what a loser, he has a terminal case of gay face. Boy, was I wrong. He is and I mean this as the highest compliment you can give a performer, Shatneresque. Yes, I coined the term may it Live Long and Prosper. He has equal amounts of cocky, clown, pomposity, tough guy, not as good as he thinks he is womanizer, grim bastard when it comes down to it and able to see the right thing to do from A to Z without going to B or the rest of the effing alphabet. He is, like Shatner, the ultimate man of action. Green bitches everywhere beware.
Zachary Quinto owns the role of Spock on his own terms and it works. In some ways it is his movie as much as anybody else's. Karl Urban is channeling Deforest Kelly and I love it. John Cho is fantastic as Sulu. Zoe Saldana keeps the soul of ship safe as Uhura. Anton Yelchin is spot on as Chekov. And Simon Peg rules as Mr. Scott. These actors love these characters as they were originally played and they celebrate their acting opportunities as if they were given Ferrari's to drive.
Oh and they even give mad love to the obligatory doomed crewman on the initial bad guy thingy destruction attempt.
The Directing:
You know what? I didn't notice it. I was too busy watching the movie.
Gene Roddenberry created something Shakespearean with Star Trek. The soul of what he created is so strong that it will last as long as we do, provided it is in the right hands.
J.J. Abrams got the hands, friends.
A total Adrenaline and Endorphin release with Heart and a Bright Future.
What heading Captain?
Out there. That away.