Star Trek - Non-Spoiler review from a long-time fan.

Rating: 8/10 (7 May 2009)

When Paramount Pictures decided to move the release date of Star Trek from Christmas 2008 to May 2009, I shared the same frustration that a lot of nerds around the world must have felt. It had been almost four years since any new production with the name Star Trek, and hunger was rising.
So, after a much longer wait than I wanted, I bought my Gold Lounge ticket and hoped that it had been worth it.
The action was immediate. From the very start, the films look and tone were completely unlike anything seen in Star Trek before, but yet it was still Star Trek. When viewed in the context of where the film fits into the Star Trek universe, I'd have to say that it can be watched after the conclusion of all the previous productions, but still serve as a prequel to the Original Series. There are many things in the story that change what has been established before, but after a lot of thought, can also be made to fit.
There are moments in the film that reminded me of watching one of the Bourne series of films, with camera shaking and fast paced shots used to ramp up the excitement level, but thankfully it's kept to a minimum. The battle scenes are incredible and very different from anything seen in Star Trek, or even Star Wars, before. The rest of the film is visually amazing, the special effects are top notch and don't appear corny.
I really enjoyed the unexpected humor, there were several points in the film where I laughed at how this new crew would remind me of their old characters. The new actors fit very nicely together, working well as a group but also with individual performances that honored the original crew. I give top marks to Karl Urban for his performance as Dr McCoy, Bruce Greenwood makes an awesome Captain Pike and Zachary Quinto does well at portraying a very young, emotional Spock, managing to break out of the mold of Sylar from Heroes. Eric Bana as the villain Nero is bad ass, Simon Pegg is A lot of fun as Scotty, and I hope he gets more time in the sequel. Anton Yelchin as Checkov sounded OK-ish, but can get a little annoying, a lot like Wesley Crusher in Star Trek - The Next Generation.
The film also features an appearance of Leonard Nimoy as a very old Spock. In keeping with continuity, I was pleased he was referred to as Ambassador Spock, which is what he last was in an episode of Star Trek - The Next Generation. The events which lead him to being included in the story were a little vague, but I guess we only have a two hour film and not an entire series to get through. Suffice to say that his role brings the film to a point where it can be viewed either as a reboot of the franchise, or a continuation of it from Star Trek - Nemesis, the most recent film before this one. I think that will be up to the fan to decide.
Things I especially loved were the music which bought a tone of the older films to this one, and also made parts of the movie very emotional. I loved the pulse phasers on the Starfleet ships instead of one long continuous beam. The Kobyashi Maru scene was funny and great to watch, even featuring a brief appearance of old style Klingon ships. And the Starfleet uniforms are just plain cool, even having little Starfleet symbols sewn into the material. I even caught a reference by Scotty to Admiral Archer and his prized beagle, a nice piece of continuity from Star Trek - Enterprise.
Some things I didn't like were the ships engine rooms, looking very much like the engine room from the film Titanic, the transporter seemed to take A lot longer than it did in the show, and didn't seem as reliable. Chris Pine as James Kirk came off as arrogant, and his forgiveness by Starfleet and promotion to Captain seemed a little forced, kind of playing to the expectations of the audience rather than him rising to become Captain. Also, some of the sound mixing seemed VERY over the top.
On the whole, J.J. Abrams has bought Star Trek back to life and has remained faithful to the elements of the old show. Faced with enormous expectations from a huge fanbase, the writers have created a great new story they can enjoy while appealing to new fans, and have set the film up for either a sequel or to be viewed just before watching The Original Series. It's an amazing piece of cinema and so much fun to watch.