Curse broken?

Rating: 9/10 (1 June 2009)

It has always been known by us geeks that the Star Trek film series is cursed. It is said that a disgruntled ex-girlfriend (of Bill Shatner's, naturally) cursed the series upon being shafted by ol' Cap'n K. Generally, if a Trek film is an odd number, it'll suck, and an even number means more or less the opposite. This is the eleventh film of the series, and like most things Hollywood is churning out these days, it's a reboot.
But it's not.
It's clever. It's not a reboot in the traditional sense, and I don't want to spoil the film, so I'll leave it up to you discover what I mean.
The film itself puts a fresh new spin on the lore, and I think even purists will like it. It's got humour, it doesn't take itself too seriously and moves at a brisk (understatement) pace.
The time travelling shenanigans and plot most definitely contain holes, but the film moves so fast you barely have time to think. Instead, the immediacy creates what the best of the previous Star Trek films did; a thrill ride. And that's what you want from a summer blockbuster, especially in these dark economic times, right?
Right and wrong. Unlike most things Star Trek, this film doesn't wrap it's doings in political/social parallels (well, not as deeply), nor does it construct it's plot around these parallels. Instead going for pure action thrills at a breakneck pace. However this is a minor gripe, the film is filled with with nods to the original series and classic characters such as Bones, Kirk and Spock and portrayed well, while Uhura is given far more to do then I can ever remember her doing before.
How much depth can really be given to man like Kirk? Predictably, it's Spock who carries the emotional weight of the film. A child of two worlds, Spock is an emotionless and logical Vulcan, with everything emotional and illogical that comes with being human.
The film is easy viewing, and entertainment wise, no other Trek film has ever come close to this, okay, maybe wrath of Khan... The film does suffer from the old movie coincidences thing where people just happen to be in the right place at the right time, but all is forgiven when said and done.
The film is like the Iron Man to last years Dark Knight. A bright, breezy blockbuster of awesomeness to balance out the summer.