Nerd Life Movie Review: Star Trek

Star Trek fan? Go see it.

Casual nerd? Go see it.

Nerd who's in denial? Go see it.

Person who beats up people who watch Star Trek? Go see it.

Seriously, this movie has it all. There are enough nods to the series' legacy to please the faithful, while still being completely accessible to non-fans.

How did they do this? JJ Abrams.

The studio has said the main reason they hired Abrams was because he HATED Star Trek. So, he took this wonderfully realized universe and made it accessible to the non-geeks of the world.

Many reviewers are going on and on about how amazing the cast is. I'm not going there. They're absolutely right, but here's all you need to know:

Zachary Quinto is Leonard Nimoy's long-lost grandson.
Karl Urban is an AWESOME "Bones" McCoy.
Simon Pegg is the man no matter what he does.
No issues at all with the rest of the cast.

The main area where this film diverges from tradition is the action. In previous films and TV series, missions always start out peaceful, the occasionally require a more physical approach. In Abrams' take, the younger crew takes more of a "shoot first, as questions later" approach. Kirk comes off as more of a cowboy than ever before, and it works. More action means more profit. More profit means more films to tell awesome stories in.

The story is... interesting. I have no real complaints, it's just radically different from anything that's come from the franchise before. It's cool seeing all these characters we know come together for the first time, and everything fits. One problem:

I hate time travel.

I went in to this film expecting the time travel plot device to be nothing more than a way to shoehorn Nimoy's "Old Spock" into the story. I couldn't have been more wrong. The time travel allows Abrams to create his own universe, without 40+ years of canon to adhere to. New stories with old characters.

A great movie. Again, go watch it. Highly recommended to anyone and everyone.