New Star Trek Film Review

I have just returned from seeing the new Star Trek movie which was released this week and I must say it is two thumbs up, way up. What makes this one so different from the other previous movie releases is that this one deals with a whole new cast depicting our familiar characters of Spock, Kirk, McCoy, Uhura and Scotty at their humble beginnings and how they met and joined together. The director did an excellent choice of picking people who look and act like they would at that age even showing their mannerisms we've become familiar with over the years. Spock with his stern, unemotional Vulcan side with hints of emotion from his human mother's side, Kirk's romancing women thru the galaxy and his wise cracking, but firm decision making in times of crisis and Dr. McCoy's feistiness. McCoy is my favorite even looking identical to a young DeForest Kelly from the original and sporting his familiar dialogue of "Dammit Spock I'm a physician not a physicist" when Spock gets too technical in his descriptions of what is happening. Leonard Nimoy as the original Spock shows up in a time transference sequence to come back in time to the young Kirk and help prevent things from happening. The only character I didn't care for was the young Chekov. His Russian accent was too forced and contrived and could have been less pronounced and I would have liked him better if he had his usual straight dark hair instead of a curly reddish brown haircut.

The story concerns a Romulan leader named Nero who also jouneys back into time after his planet is destroyed by what he thinks is Spock's fault. His plan is to destroy all the planets that have Star Fleet associates living on them, especially Spock's planet Vulcan by drilling a huge hole in them from space with a special drill from his ship in space and creating a black hole they are sucked thru and destroyed. Newcomer Eric Bana plays Nero to the max as an evil, sadistic, menacing Romulan warrior captain of his ship bent soley on revenge and destruction. This is highly reminiscent of the Wrath of khan film with a villain out for revenge with those pesky mind parsites to make you talk.
The special effects are outstanding computer generated ,of course, as everything is these days and you don't have to be a fan of the series to enjoy this even though there are a few references to the original series such as Kirk cheating on the Kobyashi Maru test (which is a simulation exam he takes as young cadet programmed by Spock to qualify for a starship) and serving under Captain Chistopher Pike who was the original captain of the Enterprise before Kirk. The first Star Trek episode back in the 60's centered around Capt. Pike. I never have been a "trekkie"and never went to any of their conventions and I myself didn't get into the series until about the third time around in reruns,but this is thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended. Take it from me. Live long and prosper.