Star Trek - "Once You Have Eliminated the Impossible..."

At last. Today's film is Star Trek. It was released in 2009, is still in theaters (I checked!), and thus this review will contain neither plot summary nor spoilers. This review was also written directly after seeing the film, so it was fresh in my mind. It was directed by J.J. Abrams, and starred Chris Pine (Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Karl Urban (McCoy), Anton Yelchin (Chekov), Zoe Saldana (Uhura), John Cho (Sulu), and Simon Pegg (Scotty). It also starred Eric Bana as Nero, and Bruce Greenwood as Christopher Pike. A guest cameo (and a rather lengthy one) is Leonard Nimoy, although I won't tell you who he plays, as that falls under the category of "spoiler."

Star Trek fans: be not afraid. In no way does this film malign or disrupt the rest of the Star Trek universe. They come up with a quite creative (but very Star-Trek-y) way to deal with that, and I approved highly.

There are references. The famous lines are said - for example, "Live long and prosper" and "I'm givin' 'er all she's got, Captain!" - but there is not a hit of cheesiness about it. Each of the old lines are inserted with a touch of class. They are there because they work in the moment, not because they want (solely, at least) to get a fan reaction - and most of those lines are given new meaning in their new context.

The computer graphics are extraordinary. I have seen good CG before, but I tend to find space battles slightly dull - not my favorite part of any sci-fi (as you could see in my review of Nemesis). This was filmed (animated?) in such a way that I pretty much always knew what was going on, but it was also quite chaotic - much more realistic of a space battle in my opinion. I have a feeling that this is the kind of battle-work that all of the Next Generation movies tried to do, and, yet, fell short. Also - and I'm not a ship girl - the shots of the Enterprise herself were quite lovely. I, in fact, leaned over to my friend, Jessica, in the theater and whispered, "Glorious!" at one particular shot of the Enterprise.

The actors did an excellent job of portraying their characters. They did extremely well at not only calling back to the classic actors (they clearly did due diligence and watch the original series and the movies) and made the characters their own. A special mention goes to Quinto, who slid gently into the role of Spock with no bumps or bruises - it felt like he put on an old glove. The true star of the show (although certainly not the main character) was Urban as Bones. He got the inflections, the lines, the cranky affection for his friends, and even the slight quirk of the mouth that Kelley always had. Amazing. Cho, who played Sulu, also stood out - but not in a good way. Sulu did not have but one moment. Cho neither made you believe he was a younger George Takei nor that he was a younger Sulu. I look forward to seeing the character and actor progress if they make other movies - and I hope they do.

If this is the direction that Star Trek will take in the future, I am pleased and proud. I can only hope that they can - and will! - keep up this level of excellence. I am mildly uncomfortable saying this, but I believe this to be the best Star Trek film yet. It's masterfully crafted, cultivates more emotions than just nostalgia (I laughed out loud several times, was actually afraid for the characters, and nearly cried two or three times), is a great action flick, and good fun. I actually had to remind myself to breathe after the first scene - utterly amazing - of the movie. Indeed, The Wrath of Khan has the action and passion, The Voyage Home has the joy, and Star Trek has it all. Go see it.