Mel & I caught the first showing of the new Star Trek on Thursday. I’ve been cautiously optimistic about it. The trailers look very action oriented and I wasn’t sure how much they’d “mess up” to make a reboot, or if they’d capture the humour or feel of the many Trek series I’ve loved (and not-loved, I’m looking at you Voyager & Enterprise).
We were blown away. Yes, this is a very action-movie Star Trek, but never without reason. It totally captures the feeling and humour of “The Original Series” but updates it. Every single character is back and great. Some are bang-on copies – Quinto as Spock is uncanny but subtle and Karl Urban as McCoy nails the grumpy “old country doctor” we all love, right down to the accent. Others breathe new life with their own rendition — Simon Pegg is a more frenetic Scotty, Anton Yelchin is excellent as the very young Chekov while Zoe Saldana is gorgeous, strong and wonderfully useful as Uhura.
I won’t spoil much here, but this is a “reboot”, and with an excellent in-story reason for it. Things have changed in the Trek universe, but only enough so this new cast can stand on their own and tell their own stories.
This is a must-see for any Star Trek fan. It’s for you, but also for everyone else. It works as both an introduction and re-introduction to the universe Gene Roddenberry created so many years ago. It’s both faithful and new, and that’s a stunning achievement.
It could use less lens flares though, but if that’s how far down I have to dig to find a complaint I know it’s a great movie.
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