Fun to Watch, but Very Predictable

Rating: 7/10 (12 February 2016)

I went into this movie with some expectations. Having already seen it and the second one years ago and enjoying both, I figured I'd give them a watch before the release of the new one. For the most part my opinion of this movie has remained unchanged, which isn't a bad thing.
The plot of Star Trek is an interesting one. The overall idea of the story I think is too overused in modern movies, but this movie handled it well. While it played an important role in the plot, it wasn't the primary focus of the movie. There were subtle hints at it here and there at it too, so it wasn't like it just came out of nowhere because J.J. Abrams ran out of ideas. I don't want to spoil it, but when you see it you will know what I'm talking about. Other than that, it's very predictable and formulaic. While this isn't always bad thing, it was a little too obvious in my eyes to just ignore. It probably didn't help that I remembered the second one better than the first, so there was never any real tension for me, but either way it's very formulaic.
The characters are quite good in this movie. James Kirk doesn't feel like your average hero, nor does Spock. I personally liked the side characters the most, specifically Scotty. I think that the main characters received enough screen time so that you knew that they were the main characters and you still cared enough about them, but they didn't get so much that it was annoying, or that the writers ran out of ideas and started forcing in average hero clichés that nobody wants. They were above average, and while not great, were still better than a lot of other movies.
The movie is just a lot of fun to watch. The visuals are great, the creature and ship designs are great. The fights are super fun, and the tone is, while often serious, still quite light-hearted, and it's a healthy amount of light-heartedness, not too much, not too little.
Overall Star Trek is just a lot of fun, while still maintaining a good enough plot and good enough characters to keep you interested for the entire run-time. I had loads of fun watching it, and while I wasn't too impressed with the predictable formula it decided to use, I was still able to largely enjoy this film. In the end I'd certainly recommend this movie to anyone just looking for a bucket of fun to pour all over themselves.