Star Trek

"To boldly go where no man has gone before." If you count the new cast and mind-blowing special effects, that's exactly what this movie did. Director J. J. Abrams has brought us a great sci-fi epic that's not just for Trekkie's.

Chris Pine stars as James T. Kirk who has grown up as a thrill-seeking farm boy. As he grows up he becomes extremely intelligent but doesn't put it to good use until he meets a man from Starfleet. The man who is at first the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise tells James to enlist in Starfleet thus following the steps of his father. So James enlists, goes through three years of training, and then his adventurous life in space begins.
Far away on a planet named Vulcan, there is a half alien, half human boy named Spock(Zachary Quinto) who has been raised in a logic-based community that rejects emotion. Spock is like the others boys on his planet except for the fact that his "human traits" inspire him to different things than the others of his kind. This results in him enlisting in Starfleet as well. James and Spock both end up on the U.S.S. Enterprise and at first, their differences cause trouble and anger between them. When an alien race headed by Captain Nero(Eric Bana) threaten Starfleet and the galaxy, James and Spock learn to put aside their different lifestyles in order to combat this threat.

Unlike X-Men Origins: Wolverine, this movie had a firm plot line that was easy to follow and understand. There were no confusing unnecessary twists which is usually what happens in two hour action flicks. The scenes in the film were also fast paced so nothing felt like it was being dragged out. One thing about the film that stuck out was the opening scene of this film which did a good job of setting the mood for the film. The opening scene also let me know as a viewer that the action was coming and coming fast.

The big thing with this film was special-effects. This movie had aliens(small and monstrous in size), fast spaceships, and large battle sequences so the special effects had to be the best for this movie to work and they were the best. The effects might remind people of the third Star Wars film,which was the last movie that resembled Star Trek in any way, because of the similarities in space/alien settings. However, since there has been four years between these two films, the CGI has grown even better and completes the experience of this film. I have one word for those who have not yet seen the film...IMAX. Go see this in IMAX because it will blow your mind.

A nice thing that I caught in this film was that the main characters were all motivated by love. James Kirk, even before he was born, was shown love by his parents that were willing to sacrifice anything for him at the beginning of the film. Now his parents' love and sacrifice are James' motivation. Spock always loved his mother even though she was human and considered a second rate citizen on Vulcan. Even the villain, Captain Nero, was motivated to conquer the universe because of the loss of the love of his life.

Even though I never watched the original show, my parents pointed out that this new film had many odes to the original show like the same tag lines, same crew, and even Leonard Nimoy who made an appearance as the old Spock. So don't worry Trekkie's, this new film has plenty of familiar aspects.

So it seems that yet another blockbuster franchise has been born this summer. Star Trek is a wonderful action movie that will be fun for most ages and gives you a fictional experience in, "Space, the final frontier." 3.5 stars out of 5.
Star Trek has a running time of two hours and six minutes. This film is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence and brief sexual content.