I have to hand it to JJ Abrams: he not only managed to resuscitate a kitschy old media franchise, he whipped it into shape and got it a nose job too. The amazing thing about this movie, is that it is not only a great standalone movie and works well within the Star Trek universe, but that it compelled my movie-going friends to go back and watch the Wrath of Khan (they hadn't seen it before). That kind of cross pollination is what marketers dream about for most of their empty, soulless lives.
I am also a fan of the small details that help to build the characters in a movie. All of the close-ups on Chris Pine - who plays Kirk, show every skin flaw possible, but it works because he's a cheeky wise-ass with a checkered past. Our first scene with him involves him being drunken, sweaty and swaggering, and still disarmingly charming. On the other end is Zachary Quinto's Spock - with porcelain skin and perfectly cut hair. I'm fairly certain that the makeup crew was manscaping the back of ZQ's neck every five minutes to keep it that inhumanly impeccable. This lends itself well to Spock's tightly-wound persona. The character depth and inner conflict that was imbued in Spock's character was a really fantastic surprise as well.
Uhura's long fake eyelashes and constant cat-liner were kind of distracting - but hey, they're paying homage, so I'm not going to bash it.
I liked this movie so much, I won't even spoil it for you. It was awesome. I can only qualify that by saying I'm not a Star Trek fan. What also impressed me was that the big name actors played their roles so well that when the credits rolled, folks were like "Where was Winona Ryder? Eric Bana was in this movie?" It was also fantastic to see Karl Urban on the movie screen again - as he had a certain something as the smoking Russion assassin in the Bourne Supremacy. Let's not forget Simon Pegg or Jonathan Cho who both helped to round out and shape this movie. It's all about the team here.
Go see it, twice. Nerds.
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