The future has a new lease

Rating: 10/10 (21 February 2012)

As Captain Picard once said, "Well... it seems we're truly sailing into the unknown".
One of the many great things about this movie is not only it has the concept of "This is not your father's Star Trek", while still being "your father's Star Trek". In short, J.J. Abrams' Star Trek is not a reboot, but the same old Star Trek pushed into unknown territory.
The movie is not one big homage to the original series, but flows with not only the original series, but the entire legacy as well. And as any good Star Trek film, or any good sequel/prequel/instalment, you don't need to know any of the other movies to understand it. What is even better that even with the alterations to the time line, much of what is known about Star Trek's legacy is still maintained, including the Kobyashi Maru scenario for example.
From a Trekkies point of view, that even the course of Star Trek history has been drastically changed, it doesn't have the "screw the original series" feel, but rather that we are now boldly going where no one has gone before, and what is to happen with Star Trek with these drastic historic changes. Sailing into the unknown.
Star Trek blends comedy, suspense and action perfectly, though it hardly give you time to breathe. Basically, the one scene from The Last Samurai where Tom Cruise took out 3 assassins at once and later the events caught up with him. This is the feeling you get from this movie at the end where it all finally comes together. With all that, it also has the same fantastic feel as did the original Star Trek did, making the old seem new again, and not betraying Star Trek at all.
The Enterprise I admit was a shock to see, but quickly came to accept it as the Enterprise, keeping it true to Walter "Matt" Jeffries original design, while re-envisioning the look of the 23rd century and keeping it true to Star Trek legacy. The design of the bridge, transporter room, everything, as though the designers have the technology to extract imagination directly out of imagination itself.
Onto the characters. Chris Pine's portrayal of James Tiberius Kirk (why he left it as James T.) is shown a someone who is very impulsive, cocky, and ready to use his fists, while at the same time showing his light hearted side and that sense of apprehension. In other words, exactly like James T. Kirk. He does not portray him as William Shatner did, but that would be more like a parody as shown many times over.
The case of the 2 Spock's, their performances are, I wouldn't say identical, rather they are almost indistinguishable from each other. Both Zachary Quinto who does a nice performance of the same old Spock we all know and love, and Leonard Nimoy able to go back to his famous role after 18 years.
Probably the best performance is Karl Urban as Doctor Leonard McCoy where he is not doing an impression of Deforest Kelley as McCoy, but that his performance is almost a dead ringer for that of Deforest.
Where in many science fiction stories where people are looking for survivors of a starship, planet, or apocalypse, this movie now can take a new approach of survivors of time. What path will they follow? Will this Star Trek be something completely new, or will it settle into much of what was your father's Star Trek?
And I had no trouble with the lens flare. It added character to the movie.
Altogether, this is by far the best Star Trek I have ever seen, and recommend it to both the fans and the non-fans. And I am willing to see where this will lead. And go into territory ... he he, where no one has gone before.
Give Star Trek ..... 10/10