Very entertaining... and this is coming from a non-Trekkie!

Rating: 7/10 (27 May 2009)

Apart from the classic 60's TV show, which i enjoyed as a little kid, "Star Trek" never appealed to me. I'm not really a science-fiction-fan to begin with, and I find most of Gene Roddenberry's universe (or what was added to it later on) rather lofty and plain nerdy.
However, I've heard good things about this re-boot of the franchise, so I gave it a shot. I didn't regret it. J.J. Abrams (or whoever is really responsible for the outcome of this) did a fine job of looking for the things that are actually fun about "Star Trek": space battles, adventures on unknown planets with horrific monster and also a nice dose of comedy.
The casting choices are nothing short of inspired. Chris Pine captures that lumbering charm of William Shatner perfectly. Zachary Quinto moves his eye brow exactly like Leonard Nimoy did and turns Spock into something of a hunk. Uhura is sexier than ever, Bones is grumpy as always and Scotty... well, I'm a fan of Simon Pegg, but I wasn't really sure why all of a sudden Scotty was a stand-up comedian. The important thing is that the characters and all their connections to one another were set up properly while never letting the fun factor slip away. We get to see why Bones is always holding a grudge against Spock, how Kirk managed to become Captain even though he is something of a slacker and so on and so forth.
A few things might turn true Trekkies off. There is very much slapstick. It never becomes a parody of "Star Trek", but the movie doesn't take itself too seriously, which as a non-fan I enjoyed a lot. However, if you spend every second weekend at a "Star Trek"-convention in your favorite Clingone-costume, you may hate that approach.
Also, the writers added a couple of things like Uhura becoming Kirk's and Spock's (wtf??) love interest or the whole "alternate timeline"-storyline (I'm still not sure if that made a whole lotta sense, but whatever).
The point is, that this movie is not over-thinking every detail, but it concentrates on characters, funny one-liners, comedic timing and action - and that makes it the very first thoroughly enjoyable "Star Trek"-movie.