From left, Anton Yelchin as Chekov, Chris Pine as Kirk, Simon Pegg as Scotty, Karl Urban as McCoy, John Cho as Sulu and Zoë Saldana as Uhura. Watch the trailers: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/star-trek/29301/trailers
Star Trek was one of my favorite TV shows during high school. Back then we thought it was high tech Sci-Fi but it looks primitive today. I'm sure I remember every episode from watching reruns and then there were the TV spin-offs, and the movies based on them. The declining success of the last few films appeared to kill off the movie franchise but Paramount took a big chance on this version. So with eager anticipation, I finally got to see this new reworking going back to when Kirk and Spock first met and butted heads as young men at Starfleet Academy and later became friends.
The reviews and audience reaction has made this movie a monster hit and rightly so. Crowd pleaser and blockbuster are easy terms for this highly entertaining extravaganza. The movie wisely plays to those both unfamiliar with the series and to Trekkies. How they reworked bits imbedded in our collective memory to keep it fresh will surprise you. The new cast is very good although Chris Pine doesn't resemble a young, cocky Kirk in my mind but he's good here as well as the rest of cast you can imagine in younger years, especially Karl Urban as a ringer for Dr. McCoy and TV's Heroes' Zachary Quinto as Mr. Spock (not pictured above). Eric Bana is unrecognizable as the required nasty villain and good too. Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock, shows up but I'm still confused how he fits into the story... Something about a rip in the Time/Space Continuum... my only quibble.
There's plenty of eye-popping special effects and last second escapes as well as plenty of laughs in the right spots to make you feel you got more than your money's worth. The funny bits are more than you're used to seeing but never irreverent. As Spock would say, "Live long and prosper" as there will sure to be a sequel or sequels.
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