Star Trek (2009)

Director: J.J. Abrams

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana, Bruce Greenwood, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Ben Cross, Winnona Ryder, Chris Hemsworth, Jennifer Morrison

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The future begins.

Plot: A chronicle of the early days of James T. Kirk and his fellow USS Enterprise crew members.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Yup.

I can't believe that I saw this in the theater opening weekend two years ago and I'm just now getting around to putting this up. I've stated before that until recently I had only seen the first four Trek movies and most of the original series so I'm not really invested in the Trek universe and everything that goes along with being a die hard fan. I really enjoyed this new film. I was skeptical as hell from the moment I heard it was happening but, as they say, the proof is in the pudding.


I was completely taken aback at how entertaining it was; and the performances! From the trailer I thought for sure I was going to hate Pine as Kirk but, boy, did he pull it off. There were just enough Shatnerisms to keep it from being an impersonation (which could have been a disaster) and he had enough acting chops to make it his own. Everybody's seen it so there's not much point in spouting off about ever main cast member but here's the short of it - Quinto as Spock was good but it wasn't the home run so many people think, Yelchin as Chekov was good but it was a bit much, Saldana as Uhura was good and it's nice to see that character be more involved, Pegg as Scotty was too silly, Cho as Sulu was good and the best job of all was from Urban as Bones. Man, did he nail McCoy! And what a great score by Michael Giacchino!


I wasn't really wild about the villain. I guess it's not all THAT important because this picture is designed to re-introduce us to these long-beloved characters and watch them grow and interact with each other. I can live with that. Naturally, the special effects are slick and pretty to look at which reminds me, I really liked those few moments where there was no sound in space; you know, LIKE IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE! Unfortunately they didn't take that vaccum ball and run with it throughout the rest of the picture. Oh, well. You can't have everything.


So what didn't I like...I really didn't like seeing Kirk as a kid driving a car to a song that's, what, a few hundred years old? Whatever. I thought Kirk's scene in the bar was enough to establish who and what he was. I could also do without the snow planet creature that chases Kirk. For a second I thought this was a spot that George Luca$ co-directed.


Oh, and I almost forgot about the coolest thing - having Leonard Nimoy back. I hung onto every word he said. That voice, that face - what a delight. I'm so glad they didn't have Shatner somewhere. I love that guy but Nimoy brought a certain level of class that Shatner could've sullied it. I'm not opposed to him showing up in the sequel but I was pleased that it wasn't this one. Now where the hell is that sequel?