Reviewed by Alicia Glass
Review Rating: 8.5
A breathtaking new take on the early early adventures of James T. Kirk and the other beloved members of the original Enterprise!
Oh god yes, this movie deserves all the hype and popularity it’s gotten and then some! Legions of Trekkies have flocked to see what’s being called Star Trek Zero, and a whole new younger generation of fans is being born as well. Abrams couldn’t have made a better movie if he tried. There are no dull moments, no pauses where the fans are rolling their eyes or thinking now would be a good time to hit the bathroom, nope we can’t cuz we’d miss something!
Every single actor found for their revamped role of a beloved original classic, whether it be Kirk or Spock, Scottie or Uhura, did an amazing job without being overshadowed by their original counterparts or not doing justice to their own role. Each actor slid into the character slot like it was made for them, boy am I impressed. Chris Pine as Kirk brings a fresh brashness back to the character, without the Shatner arrogance that plagued us for so long. Zachary Quinto has to be, without a doubt, the most perfect choice for a young Spock I could think of. Some of you die-hard fans might, gee, recognize him as Sylar from Heroes, and he rocks the entire world of both parts. He even gets a scene with the single raised Vulcan eyebrow! Karl Urban, of Chronicles of Riddick fame, graces us as the new Dr. McCoy, and makes his “Bones” rattle uproariously for all of us! (Forgive the horrible pun, I just had to.) Zoe Saldana does a damn fine job as Uhura, and although I figured out who she was dating long before they actually showed it, it still came as a great, “really? Coooool” shocker. I really didn’t want to like Simon Peg for Scottie, never cared for much of his other movies, but I have to admit, he threw himself into the part and pulled it off very nicely. John Cho, everyone’s favorite stiff from Harold and Kumar, is awesome as the fencing badass Sulu! Anton Yelchin, actually of the new Terminator Salvation movie, slides into the role of Chekov pretty well, but his accent was so darn thick it was almost too comical. And I can’t believe I sat through most of the movie looking at the bad guy Nero going, I know him from somewhere, when it was Eric Bana the whole time, knewthatbob.
I’m not giving anything about the plot away because really, that would just ruin further enjoyment of a fantastic movie. I will however, say that you really do need to be a fan of Star Trek or at least be somewhat familiar with it, to completely get the whole plot of this latest installment.
A brand new generation of Trekkies? We’ll take over the world!