Movie Review: Star Trek

Action! Action! Action! If you love action, you will loooove the new Star Trek! Lucky for me, I love action! And I loved the new Star Trek movie as well.

The new J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie is a prequel to all the existing movies, showing the development of several old Trek characters. You get to see where they came from, how they ended up in Starfleet; all that kind of stuff. The characters we're all used to are played very well, and despite having a completely new cast, you can actually see the old characters' personalities in the way the new actors portray them. It really sells the "this is how that character developed" story and keeps it feeling old school.

Getting back to my review of the story, it really holds the viewer's attention. This movie hits you with nonstop exciting action without feeling all jumbled and confused like Quantum of Solace did. There is also a lot of good comedy and humor in the movie, and references to the old campy style of Star Trek, somehow without being cheesy. (Yes, the red-shirts die and Kirk sleeps with green women.) The special effects are awesome, and I believe have vastly improved on how they have been handled in every Star Trek movie and series to date. When ships jump to warp, it's violent and loud, like a lightning strike. Tearing through the fabric of space should feel like that rather than the slow bendy-stretching we've seen in the past. Phasers have a loud, tactile smack and seem to cause real damage when they strike an object, as opposed to the damage-free heating effect we've previously seen. They finally seem like real weapons now, which is good.

I liked this movie from beginning to end. I can only come up with two gripes. First is that product placement sucks no matter what movie it's in. Apparently people in the twenty-third century still use Nokia cell phones, listen to the Beastie Boys and drink Budweiser. Second is that the story suffers from a little too much deus ex machina, but I suppose that is common to all Star Trek movies and shows.

I think this is the best Star Trek movie to date. Yes, even better than the Wrath of Khan. Go see it. You won't be disappointed.

SCORING: I give Star Trek 4 Agent Smiths out of a possible 5.