Star Trek: Remember the Space Times?

All I have to say about this movie is, "AWWW YEEAH!"  I just got back from seeing this for the second time.  It was just as good as the first time, maybe better because it was in IMAX.  This is the movie of the summer.  Sadly it comes out so early in the season that there's not much else to look forward to (Terminator will be okay and Harry Potter will be great, but is so far away).  So by mid-May we've hit the peak of summer greatness, but it's quite a peak.

First of all I need to say this film is for Trekkies and for initiates into the Trek world.  You need no previous knowledge of Star Trek to see it, although if you do it will enhance your experience (see more on this subject later).  The new Star Trek was directed by the genius, J.J. Abrams (LOST, Alias, Felicity, Mission Impossible III) and was designed to reignite the series by starting from the beginning.  So let's start there, shall we?

The film starts with a bang.  A huge battle between a ginormous Romulan (bad alien) ship and a small Starfleet (good guys) ship.  The battle is intense, the ship is destroyed as the acting captain, George Kirk, sacrifices himself so the rest of the crew (including his wife who is at that moment giving birth to their son, the soon-to-be James Tiberias Kirk) can escape to safety.  The scene is both epic and touching and gives a great prologue to the movie.  From the start of the movie you are sucked in, it's exciting and you love it.

The movie goes from there to a brief introduction to the two main characters (James T. Kirk and the Vulcan (smart aliens) Spock as children.  Kirk is a rebel acting out against authority and Spock (who is half Vulcan half human) is a angst ridden youth in a culture that doesn't believe in being angst ridden.  Not a lot of time is spent on the background of the characters, but the time that is spent is effective.  The movie really starts moving when Capt. Pike of Starfleet convinces Kirk to join up and be a man like his father was.

On the shuttle to Starfleet Academy Kirk meets Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (my favorite, played by Karl Urban), the cantankerous medical officer.  The night before he met Uhura (Zoe Saldana), the communications and xenolinguistics expert.  Later we're introduced to Hikaru Sulu (John Cho), the helmsman and Ensign Pavel Andrevitch Checkov (Anton Yelchin).  Each character gets their moment to shine and it's great.  Engineer Montgomery Scott comes in later and while his appearance is a little more than a cameo actor Simon Pegg makes the most of his limited screen time.  All the original crew, with a facelift.  Each actor is great at being true to their original counterparts, while also bringing a new style all their own.  It makes me smile just thinking about it.

With all the necessary crew in place the movie is set for pure fun.  If you're familiar with the old Star Trek, you'll love the references and in-jokes, if you're not familiar with it you'll love getting to know all the old crew with all their new jokes.  Bones has all his obligatory "Damn it man I'm a doctor not a_____." lines.  Scotty tells Kirk he's "Givin' it all she's got."  Checkov has trouble with his V's.  They even have the scene where Kirk beats the infamous Kobayashi Maru test.  Top it all off with a great cameo by Leonard Nimoy and you've got all the right parts.  (If none of this means anything to you, no worries, they're just nerd-talk inside jokes from older Star Trek films.)

Yet there is plenty here for newcomers.  There is plenty to enjoy in this reboot.  First timers to the series will enjoy the fast paced action, menacing villany of Eric Bana's Romulan Capt. Nero, and funny dialogue that keeps the movie light-hearted just at the moments when it starts taking itself too seriously.  It's the epitome of a perfect summer movie.  I wanted to see it again as soon as it ended.  Now I want a sequel.

So if you haven't seen it yet, go now.  See it in IMAX if you can.  (On that note, since going to the IMAX I have to ask myself, why do they keep building normal theaters.)  Anyway, go see Star Trek, it's great.  You'll laugh.  You'll gasp.  You'll hold your breath at the stunning space jump sequence.  Have fun and "Live Long and Prosper!"

Rating: 7 Billion Warp Drives!