Star Trek

Dir: J.J. Abrams (Mission: Impossible III)
Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Simon Pegg
Additional Cast: Bruce Greenwood, Eric Bana, Ben Cross, Winona Ryder, Chris Hemsworth, Rachel Nichols, Jennifer Morrison
USA/Germany, 2009

Seen: May 7, 2009 at the AMC (Screen 6 - woohoo!)

Reason to see: It's Trek. Of course I'll see it. I watched every single Star Trek film to in preparation to see this film.

I was so thrilled to finally see Star Trek, after avoiding spoilers or any information on the film beyond basic casting for over a year. All I had seen was the teaser trailer way back with Cloverfield in Jan'08.

And boy, I'm glad I did.

The film knows its audience and plays to one of the favourite strengths of Trek, the characters and their relationships. Chris Pine delivers as James T. Kirk, Simon Pegg is excellent as expected as Scotty and Bruce Greenwood is a stand out as a part of the supporting cast. But who won me over was Karl Urban as McCoy, up until then I still had a microscopic sceptic in me wondering if this was all going to work out but when he appeared that was gone for good and I was hooked. I knew that the film was going to work and settled in to enjoy the ride.

It is more action oriented than adventure, which I can imagine was a concious choice to attract new fans as well as a safe bet consider the most successful Trek films were more action oriented (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and Star Trek: First Contact). Although I did miss the adventure and exploration side of Trek, that isn't to say my mind wasn't occupied. It certainly was. This is a very clever film.

I was surprized and disappointed to see a little gender crap thrown in the film. Star Trek never had this and I hope they do away with it later.

What was achieved here is a feat I couldn't have anticipated. Not only does it satisfy the fans of The Original Series and films but it appears that it will reign in a whole new slew of fans. Whether or not both will stay happy is a question that will only be answered over the test of time.

An enjoyable film and a successful reboot all in one.

Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it
I'll watch it again and buy it as well
I'd recommend it to SciFi fans, action fans and of course Star Trek fans

The preshow actually started 4 minutes early which was rather surprizing. However they did fill that time with 15 minutes of preshow with 3 commercials and 6 previews: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Land of the Lost, Year One, Up, Terminator Salvation and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

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© Shannon Ridler, 2009


At the AMC about 45 minutes before show time. It was the first time I've lined up outside a theatre in a long time. I had my iPod playing really loud to not year anything as people left, but I was warmed by their smiling faces.


AMC posters craziness.