4 out of 5

Director: J.J. Abrahms

Background is important in this review. I was a Next Generation watcher, never seeing much of the original series, and was bored with Deep Space Nine a few episodes in. I saw the first few Next Generation movies in the theater, and would join my dad to watch the original Star Trek films when they would show up on TV. I’m not a huge J.J. Abrams fan, though I think he knows what he’s doing, but for some reason I got really hyped to see this movie and decided to watch all of the original films as preparation. So with that background, I was tempted to say that this Star Trek… might have… been the best. Before I am murdered though, let me temper that statement by saying that I’m wrong. If I’m being more patient with my thoughts, Star Trek II and VI are still superior. Though this might stand on even ground with IV. The problem is that this current incarnation is tons of fun, and the initial set-up leading into the plot is almost flawless. I believed these characters, and damn if Karl Urban’s Bones isn’t amazing (although it wouldn’t be amazing without the original, right?). But, as with a lot of Abrams stuff (in my opinion), the plot is where it starts to fall apart. Once the initial rush is over, the bad guy is pretty weak and I realize that I never feel… threatened by what’s going on. And the time-hopping just seems like a last minute cover-up. It’s all fun, but not really impactful. The establishment of characters is also what keeps this from fully succeeding: Nero, for all of his insanity, is never explained well enough. Even without knowing Khan’s history from II, the way they present his character lets you know that the confrontation matters. Here? Not so much. So this new Star Trek looks great, and watches great. It is very “modern.” It’s easy to get caught up, but it’s also easy to see what that fast pacing is trying to cover.