Holy Lens Flare Captain!!!!

Rating: 8/10 (11 May 2009)

With the recent surge in reboots of franchises and remakes, J.J. Abrams goes into a little different direction, and uses time travel as a device to play in both worlds, that being the original series and the new reboot he has created. The result is a highly entertaining film with great special effects and good performances.
Going through a black hole and destroying a federation ship, Nero has altered the current time line and created an alternate universe. He's exacting revenge on other planets because his was destroyed. Can the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise stop him in time? I never watched the original series with Shatner, and caught a few episodes of The Next Generation because my dad would watch them. The series seemed to be running out of gas in films, with every single film being about throwing the ships shield's up and pretending to be hit by missiles in space. I welcome this so called 're-boot' with open arms, the series needed it in my opinion. Abrams and co have created something special here and I'm interested in seeing where they take this series.
The casting choices work for me, I knew enough of the original characters to know this. For me, Urban as McCoy is the best casting decision. Quinto from Heroes fame fills the shoes of Spock, he looks the part and plays the part well. The guy looks evil every time you look at him. Pegg as Scotty is a given and newcomer Pine does the role justice and I'm glad he didn't try to impersonate Shatner here. Everyone works in their supporting roles and we are introduced to them by the numbers. I was a tad upset to only see Pegg introduced near the end of the film, but here's hoping we see more of him in future installments.
The special effects were stunning. I noticed they employed the same technique used in the short lived brilliant television show Firefly, which employed quick zooms and having objects and people out of focus for a brief second while in space. Although, I'm sure during the scenes in space, it would be silenced, such as the girl flying out of the ship in the opening and Kirk & Sulu descending on the drill. Yet in other scenes we would hear the explosions of the missiles and so on. Inconsistent, but not a huge problem.
The way the film is shot is beautiful, but I could do with a little less of the lens flare. I understand that it was intentional, but near the end of the film is became a little overbearing and distracting. Also Bana is underused in my opinion. I could have used a bit more with him and Kirk in the climax.
The film starts off with a bang and the adrenaline is there at the end as well. The film slows down in some parts, but this is needed to fill in the spots of the story. A story that is well written and with Abrams behind the camera, well directed. Abrams has finally made the jump from television to film. His first try was the mediocre Mission Impossible III. With Star Trek it seems this guy has no fear, taking on two films that belong in a franchise, kudos.
Trek is entertaining, funny and will draw in a new audience. I had a great time in the theatre and liked every minute of it. I can't wait to see the direction they take this new and exciting series. Thanks for not disappointing.