Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures


Gregory Brand, Jr.
Entertainment Editor
SOTG Magazine

Star Trek
Rating 5 out of 5

Writer/director JJ Abrams' re-imagining of the iconic science fiction series, "Star Trek," delivers a movie that is both action-packed and worth the serious attention being given to this re-make of a classic.

In a film full of action, adventure and romance, unaffiliated viewers and serious fanboys alike will enjoy this film.

It manages to do exactly what a major summer blockbuster is supposed to do-entertain.

Featuring a well-placed cast and interesting story, "Star Trek" will undoubtedly bring in new fans and delight the older ones.

The film opens as a crew of intergalactic astronauts is attacked by an enormous spacecraft that has the ability to cause massive destruction.

The captain of the enemy ship clearly showcases a dislike for the members of Starfleet and aims to destroy them.

After a few volleys of fire back and forth, the big ship begins to win the battle and may possibly take over the universe when they finish.

Luckily this frightful attempt is stopped once the captain of the ship sacrifices himself to save everyone else. This sacrifice comes just as his son, James Tiberius Kirk is born.

The film then fast forward to different stages in the lives of the half-alien Spock (Zachary Quinto) growing up on his home world, Vulcan, and James (Chris Pine) as he is bounces between being a rough and wild young body to a rough and wild young man. Though James exhibits a lot of knowledge and skill, he is still lacking in the trademark maturity of a captain.

After a chance meeting with a beautiful young communications officer named Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and a man that knew his now famous father, James grudgingly signs up for service in the universe-wide Star Fleet Academy.

While in the academy James does well and even though he has yet to shake most of his childish immaturity, he begins to reveal that he is not only a brave fighter but a natural tactician and strategist.

From here all of the pieces of the story begin to come together. The viewer gets to meet the half human/ half Vulcan second in command, Spock, communications expert Uhura, Russian co-pilot Pavel Chekov (Anton Yelchin), ship medical doctor Bones (Karl Urban), hotshot pilot Sulu (John Cho) and eventually—ship mechanic and technician Scotty (Simon Pegg).

After all of the key players are put into place, the story uses clever elements to tie action and story together. It is also very interesting how the characters all manage to interact and connect with such a big story being told.

The visuals are every bit as good as the film itself. From the first appearance of the massive ships and external views of the planets themselves, everything looks awesome.

With strong performances from most of the cast the film reads as believeable and real. Pine, Qunito, Urban, Saldana and Pegg are all very good in the respective roles as Kirk, Spock, Bones, Uhura and Scotty.

Bottom Line: Star Trek is why people go to the movies, it is entertaining and fun but also successfully updates a classic.

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