Star Trek

Star Trek is a movie that I had lofty expectations for but did not believe that it would reach that high a level.  Well after the disappointment that was Wolverine, getting this nice gift of a spotless summer movie reinvigorates my expectations for the rest of the summer.  Who knew it was possible to make a Star Trek movie that instead of feeling like another episode actually worked as a blockbuster.

There is a whole lot to praise about Star Trek.  All of the boxes on your summer checklist, casting, story, action, etc. can be marked.  Instead of casting lookalikes in the roles made famous 40 years ago, people were brought in would could give their own spin on these characters.  Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Karl Urban were standouts as Kirk, Spock, and Bones but it was the rest of the crew that surprised me.  Going into Star Trek I was looking forward to Simon Pegg as Scotty the most.  Sadly he got the least amount of screen-time but he took advantage of every second.  Hopefully that will be rectified in the inevitable sequel.  The most amusing part of the casting was that the 2 characters who were a the bottom of the pecking order in the original series, Uhura and Chekov, were given stronger arcs then anything that appeared in the earlier movies.  All of Anton Yelchin’s scenes were great but that could just be the beauty of the thick Russian accent.  And Zoe Saldana was all over the place sometimes with minimal clothing.  I still haven’t even got to Eric Bana, Bruce Greenwood, Ben Cross, and obviously Leonard Nimoy so needlessly to say I liked this cast.

The story required absolutely zero prior knowledge while still getting all the high points of the characters right.  It somehow was able to feel like Star Trek while feeling nothing like Star Trek at the same time.  This feeling may have been completely based on the use of a Beastie Boys song …  an awesome use of a Beastie Boys song.  All of the action felt a million times better than anything done in the previous 10 films.  My favorite plot point was the slick way that they undercut any complaining about the reinvention.  It’s all about alternate realities washing away any complaints.  Abrams even threw in some Alias Rambaldi nonsense with the big red ball.   There is just too much stuff and not enough room.

This is exactly what I'm looking for when the weather turns warm.  I was hoping for something good when JJ Abrams was attached to Star Trek, but this topped even my highest expectations.  Hooray for a new summer franchise that I can look forward to every couple of years.

9 out of 10