So I went to see Star Trek this past weekend. I’m such a non-Trekkie that I almost typed Star Wars instead. Yeah, not really my thing. I’m more into sci-fantasy than sci-fi. I’ve always kinda wanted to be an uber fan of a really popular series though, so you didn’t really have to twist my arm to go see it. I made a point to not read ANYTHING about the movie before going, and although I do know the basic concept, characters, etc. about Star Trek, I’m working with the bare bones of knowledge here. Like, I frequently forget if Captain Kirk or Captain Picard was the original Enterprise leader.

Yeah, you know that image was coming, didn’t you? But I digress. The point is, this review is from a completely new fan’s perspective.

Yes, you read that correctly – I am a fan. A big fan, in fact. The movie blew me away, and I certainly hope they make tons more in the series. If it becomes a TV show, I’d watch that too.

Before we get to anything spoiler-ish in nature, let me do a quick review for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. Meaning, my mom. Because seriously, if you haven’t seen it yet, what are you waiting for???

When the new Star Trek was announced, everyone was excited, though a little scared. When something has as much backstory as Star Trek, there’s bound to be inconsistencies here and there – and when it is handed off to a new person completely, there’s bound to be huge blunders. That’s when they announced that this was going to be a complete reboot of Trek. Some people believed that was for the best, while others were angered that decades of history that the writers created would be thrown out the window.

Without getting too far into it, the way they did this was SMART. Leonard Nimoy’s cameo role made perfect sense, and true long-time Trek fans are appeased for the most part. At least they should be. The movie definitely pays homage to everything that came before it while still allowing the writers to do whatever the fuck they want without having to research whether or not the choices they are making fit into the Trek world.

The best thing about this move, though? The casting. Besides Nimoy, the biggest star was probably Winona Ryder as Spock’s mom, but her role was very small.

• Zachary Quinto (the bad guy from Heroes) was Spock. It was a beyond perfect fit.
• Simon Pegg (a favorite of mine, most famously from Shaun of the Dead) was Scotty. Perfect.
• Eric Bana (Hulk, Troy, The Other Boleyn Girl) was Nero, the brand new bad guy. Perfect.
• Zoe Saldana (the feisty female captain from Pirates of the Caribbean) was Uhura. Perfect.
• Karl Urban (who’s had tons of small roles in geeky films/tv shows like LOTR, Doom, and Xena:WP) was McCoy. Perfect.
• Anton Yelchin (Alpha Dog, Middle of Nowhere, and a bunch of other movies you probably never saw) was Chekov. Perfect.
• John Cho (Harold from Harold and Kumar) was Sulu. Perfect.

I could go on and on, since even the smaller roles were cast perfectly. But who was James Kirk? Chris Pine. Who? Well, I knew him from Bottle Shock, but that’s not a very well-known movie. He was also the love interest in Princess Diaries 2 and Just My Luck, and he had a small role in Smokin’ Aces. Yeah, a nobody. I had to IMDB that. He kinda reminds me of Ryan Reynolds, but more serious. He was absolutely perfect in the role. Stardom, here comes Chris Pine.

Ok, now let’s get a little more specific for those of you who have seen the movie.

SPOILERS START HERE!

Um, who else almost cried during the VERY first sequence? When Nero attacks the Kelvin as Kirk is being born, you know things are going to go south. The only way George Kirk can save his wife and new baby is to sacrifice himself. When he’s telling his wife over the phone communicator (yeah, James corrected me) that he loves her and they’re picking out baby names, all as there’s a damn TIMER counting down his DEATH…god, you have to be a stone-hearted person to not get a little choked up. The person who went to see the movie with me made a comment afterward that this is def a J.J. Abrams film – there are internal father-related conflicts with the characters from the start! Where else have we seen that…oh yeah, LOST, Fringe, Alias, Armageddon…and just about every other project where he’s involved as a writer or director or producer. It’s his schtick.

I’m generally not a huge action movie fan. I’ll typically only seek out an action movie if…yeah, I got nothing. I never seek out action. I only watch an action movie if someone else wants to watch it, or if it’s been hyped beyond belief and I’m sick of hearing people talking about it to me when I haven’t seen it. I thought that this movie was leaps and bounds beyond most action movies. The characters were highly developed, and there weren’t gratuitous action sequences just for the hell of it. All of the scenes that did involve shooting and chases and such keep me on the edge of my seat. I especially loved the scene where they base-jumped to stop the drill on Vulcan. James tells me that the one guy dying in that scene was actually homage to the original Trek, which had a running joke that they’d quickly kill off an unknown character in a red shirt. *shrug* Who knew? I certainly didn’t. But that scene was great nonetheless. The scene where Spock tries to save his mom was also great.

Some of the story did feel a *little* contrived. They gave Spock Prime (ie Nimoy) more screen time than I thought he should have, and I thought that the scene with him and Spock at the end was a little cheesy and unnecessary. It seemed like they just wanted to give Nimoy a little bigger part. But really, who cares? It was cool that he got involved.

I loved, though, how they created an alternate timeline, saying that Spock’s ship went through a black hole. So, the original Trek isn’t forgotten or “wrong.” It is just an alternate universe. It also leaves future scripts open for fun twists that only long-time Trekkies will pick up. For example, reusing lines, storyline concepts that are just a little tweaked, etc. It makes sense. They can also have cameos from other cast members too, though if they do too much of that, it will get confusing. That’s what they’re trying to avoid – they want the writers to be free to write a great NEW Trek with all of the old characters. I know that some Trekkies weren’t in love with the alternate universe plot point, but I thought it was genius.

Ok, ok, I think I’ve gone on long enough. One last thing though…it was a perty movie. Nothing that’s going to blow your mind, but the initial shot of the Enterprise? Yummy. I know James agrees.

SPOILERS END HERE!

For the record, I didn’t love the movie enough to need to see it again. It’s just one of those movies that I loved, but can wait to watch on DVD. $10 > Star Trek in the theatre a second time. I’ll want it on DVD, though. Blu-ray, actually. It’s a good movie to get in HD.

So has this movie created a newbie Trekkie out of me? Well, I wouldn’t go that far, but I am interested in seeing the older movies now. And if when they make sequels for this movie, I’ll be there opening weekend again.

But I’m not dressing up.

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