As good as it gets for fans of the original series

Rating: 10/10 (7 May 2009)

Star Trek ticked ALL my boxes, and ticked them big time. Let me list the things it got wrong:
1.
Now let me list the things it got right:
1. A good solid story;
2. A story cleverly constructed to make sure that this film was both consistent with the established continuity of the on-screen Star Trek universe yet also sufficiently legitimately outside that continuity to permit variations. Not a bad trick!:
3. Excellent casting. These performances are not slavish impressions of the original cast, but they do much to capture the essence of the well-loved characters from the original series. In particular, Pine captures the swagger and braggadocio of the young Kirk perfectly;
4. Spock and Spock. Quinto looks uncannily like the young Nimoy, but to have Nimoy himself playing the aged Spock, and to see the difference between the young and the old and to understand how it happened - magical;
5. Eye candy - this movie looks amazing!;
6. Backstory - we always knew these characters existed before and after what we saw on TV and then the movies - these early moments fit perfectly into what we already knew;
7. Alexander Courage's theme and the "Space, the Final Frontier" voice-over, and Majel Barret's voice;
I would have enjoyed this film a great deal even had I not been a fan of the original TV series: however, being familiar with the series adds huge emotional resonance almost all the way through.
I really, really, really enjoyed this movie.