Two word movie review: Star Trek

Totally awesome.




Oh, you were hoping for more.

Okay.

As a long-time Star Trek fan, I waited more than a month for my chance to finally see the new movie with my darling husband. I spent the last month avoiding learning any details about the movie, and that was worth it too. I knew Leonard Nimoy was in it, but I thought it would just be a cameo, not that he'd be central to the plot. I spent the first few minutes thinking, What just happened? George Kirk doesn't die when Jim is born, Jim Kirk totally knew his dad.

And then: Amanda Grayson doesn't die like this. Spock's mom dies of old age. Oh my God, did they just obliterate Vulcan? Side note: A.C. Crispin's novel about Spock's dad, Sarek,is one of my very favorite Star Trek novels (and yes, I've read many).

So I was absolutely thrilled that they so cleverly created an alternate universe for this generation of characters. They won't be tied down by the stories that have already come to pass - which, I've heard, really hampered the writers for the more recent television series because they'd hear back, We already did that back in Episode 113, or, That conflicts with Episode 25 of the other series.

Plus, except for Uhura, the characters were perfectly cast. (There wasn't anything wrong with her, and she has a great look - although her similarity to Jada Pinkett Smith kind of bothered me - but her performance was very blah compared to the rest of the cast.) There were many laugh-out-loud moments, although if I had to pick a favorite scene, it would be when Bones is chasing Kirk around injecting him with various antidotes.

It really was a great movie - non-Star Trek fans got to see a great action film, while die-hard fans got a movie that stayed true to the things we love dearly but that was also fresh and exciting and new at the same time. So I'll say it again:

Totally awesome.