An Okay Space Flick, But It's Not Trek

Rating: 4/10 (17 May 2009)

I really wanted to like this movie since it might have been (and its early mini-trailers hinted that it would be) the restart of my beloved characters I have waited for since 1969.
Nope.
This movie simply has nothing to do with Star Trek (The Original Series). Oh, it's got a character named "Spock" who has pointed ears and comes from a planet named "Vulcan." But the similarity between "Spock" and Spock is about what you'd get if a twelve-year-old watched a dozen TOS episodes, then tried to describe Spock to a grown-up director or writer who had never seen TOS. And "Spock" is the closest to the original of the main ensemble.
Okay, so it didn't _have_ to be the same, I know. But it captures _none_ of the original's feel or charm. Indeed, where it tries to do so, the film gets in its own way. To put them in the familiar setting and context of the commander/first-officer/doctor, the script has forced situation after forced situation calling upon the viewer to strain their willingness to disbelieve the absurd to its breaking point.
Also absent were any familiar sounds. But for a few, almost swamped, beeps and chords, most of the sound effects, and all of the score, again fail to connect us to the source material.
There were lots of exciting scenes, and I think this could have been a worthwhile entry into the sf genre of movies (but for that annoying habit the director has, as several others have noted, of shaking the camera for no apparent reason; actually gave me a mild headache, at one point). However, by calling it "Star Trek," some reasonable expectations were cultivated. Alas, no reasonable expectations were met.
I'm sad to say it, but, although this movie is sure to spawn at least a couple of sequels, it's time to face the fact:
Star Trek is dead.