Star Trek makes sci-fi exciting and fun again

Rating: 9/10 (11 May 2009)

This long awaited and anticipated movie is absolutely terrific fun whether you are a Star Trek fan or not. Rarely have I seen a two hour movie that packs so much in and sprints along at such a frenetic pace.
All the new cast were superb (with the possible exception of Simon Pegg who may have misjudged his performance but who we see very little of). Pine and Quinto playing Kirk and Spock totally nail it - really believable while bringing new aspects and their own interpretations to the characters. Carl Urban who plays Bones McCoy is truly superb too as is Zoe Saldana as Uhuru.
This is really a character driven movie, and the Romulan bad guys are secondary to that - the real pleasure is in seeing the new crew get to know each other, interact and master the brand new "original" Enterprise. (The love affair interest is cleverly and deftly handled too).
The effects are phenomenal, and because this is a relatively unknown cast who aren't swallowing up 50% of the budget on their wages, all the money is up there on screen.
It isn't perfect, but it is hard to see how this could have been done much better. JJ Abrahams has accomplished the near impossible - a new invigorated Star Trek that has universal appeal.
If you have illogical prejudices against Star Trek or Sci-Fi and don't see this you are really missing out.
This is how to reboot a franchise - this is just way better than the Star Wars prequels. It's Star Trek, and it has rediscovered its joie de vivre!