Star Trek - Paramount Pictures

So, anyways . . after we went to see Wolverine we finally get to see the new Star Trek. Tell me you weren't intrigued by those trailers you saw. They were awesome. And actually, I thought the movie was too. I like Star Trek, but . . I'm not a die-hard Trekkie. I've probably seen most of TOS, and loved ST:TNG. That one was easily my favorite. I've seen most of DS9, but saw none of the Voyager or the Enterprise series. That's a lot of Star Trek to watch. And now . . 11 movies also. Whodathunk that Gene Roddenberry was creating such an iconic giant some 43 years ago. I also read most of the comic books, from Marvel and DC, but . . those just weren't the same thing. Anyways, my point is, I'm pretty familiar with the series. Much more so than my wife. She watched most of ST:TNG with me, but was never really interested in anything else. I actually don't know that she's seen any other Star Trek movies than this one. So, again, we were going at this one from 2 completely different perspectives. The film has some familiar faces in it. Chris Pine plays Kirk. The only thing I really saw him in was Smokin' Aces. But Zachary Quinto plays Spock, which I immediately knew from Heroes. Another one of my favorite shows. I was a bit concerned about comparing him to his Sylar character, but . . those worries quickly proved moot. And of course Leonard Nimoy plays a huge part in this film, but now until about half-way through. The other ones I recognized were Anton Yelchin as Chekov. He was the son in Huff. And of course Eric Bana, who plays the movie's villain, Nero. Winona Ryder also makes a couple of appearances as Spock's mother, but I completely didn't recognize her. The basic set-up of the film is . . in the year 2387 the galaxy is threatened by a super-nova. Spock tries to destroy it by creating an artificial black-hole out of 'red-matter'. However, before he can do so, the super-nova destroys Romulus. Nero, who is a mining captain, and off-planet at the time, finds out what happened and blames Spock for his world's destruction. His ship, as well as Spock's, become caught up in the black-hole and travels back in time. Nero arrives first, some 154 years prior, but Spock doesn't show up for 25 years after that. Nero arrives is a space storm which the USS Kelvin is investigating. Thinking that Nero's ship is causing the storm, and therefore threatening, the Kelvin attacks. However, it's quickly overpowered by the Romulan ship. And, since it's captain is off-ship, trying to prompt a diplomatic dialogue with the alien ship, George Kirk the first-officer, James' father, is in charge when the ship goes down. He does however save most of the crew as he scuttles them off at the last second. Also, to add to the drama, George's wife, who is in labor, delivers during all of this. The last thing George hears, or knows, is that his wife has given birth to their son James. Nero then apparently goes into hiding, waiting for Spock's return. In that time, James grows up as a reckless youth. It's never really addressed but, I assume James' following, and knowledge of Star-fleet is bent out of drive for revenge. Not against Star-fleet, but against whatever it was that killed his father. He's brilliant, but reckless, so he doesn't go far in the school rankings. It's like he's waiting for something to happen. It appears that moment begins when, from his motorcycle, he watches the USS Enterprise being built. From there it seems that he applies himself more . . it also doesn't hurt that he's pretty close friends with Captain Pike. When a lightning storm appears near Vulcan, the cadets are recruited for duty, but Kirk's disappointed when he's not assigned to the Enterprise. That's when his buddy McCoy, whom he's befriended through the academy, helps smuggle him aboard as his ailing patient. Anyways, you can get the rest of the story from any one of a hundred web-sites. Long story short, the past is changed, and the future is opened up for these characters to become the new crew of the Enterprise. Spock's return to the past, and the surviving of Captain Pike, has changed the events of the past. Things are similar to the way they rolled out in TOS, but there's enough variances that if they decide to pursue this new course . . they've erased all problems with continuity. If you haven't seen the movie I know that sounds hokey. But it really works. Through the whole thing, I'm comparing what I know about TOS, to what's playing out on the screen. There, we know, Captain Pike died. So when it seemed like things were going a bit 'off-script' . . such as Uhura becoming romantically involved with the young Spock, and when Vulcan is destroyed, I was thinking, "Uh-oh!" However, it all plays out really well. Pike is promoted to Admiral, James is made Captain of the Enterprise, and Spock . . the old, future, Spock . . goes off to create a Vulcan colony for it's few survivors. The first thing I thought was, "They can go anywhere they want with this now. Whatever happened in TOS doesn't matter anymore . . at least not to this new direction." It was brilliant. It really was. I thought JJ Abrams did a spectacular job with this movie. I really liked the feel and the look of it. I have to admit, there were a couple of slow spots, but . . they didn't last long, and they were all relevant to the story. Also, all the 'new' actors playing the 'old' characters did a tremendous job. Especially Karl Urban, who plays McCoy. His portrayal was spot-on. He was absolutely perfect. I was also impressed with Simon Pegg who plays Scotty. His comments in engineering, and the way he handled the transporter board, really brought back a lot of old memories. They also introduced a new angle with this little alien 'pet' that he has. I thought it was hilarious. Obviously, this movie opens up the franchise again for future projects. And, like I said, the brilliant aspect of this all is, 43 years later, they've set themselves up to start over . . brand new. How perfect is that?