June 12: Star Trek

"The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful, time-traveling Romulan creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time."

Star Trek is one of those rare kinds of films that you crave more of the second it's finished. You simply want more.From the beginning, Star Trek was ambitious, as it took a beloved franchise and decided to pretty much remake it. So, a lot was riding on J.J Abrams' new envisioning of the adventures of the USS Enterprise. Luckily, Star Trek is terrific in nearly every aspect, from the perfect casting, intriguing story, and amazing special effects (minus the over-use of lens flares). It energizes a franchise that hasn't seen much action in over a decade and recreates a vibrant, futuristic, fully-fleshed out world that is not only welcoming to newcomers of the Star Trek universe, but also a great return for lifelong fans of the TV shows and movies. 

Don't be hatin'. 

The story of Star Trek is incredibly unique. As opposed to completely remaking and retelling the stories of Captain Kirk and Spock, Star Trek creates an alternate timeline/reality to the original series. Using a black hole as a means of time travel, the histories kind of mix together. Future Spock (played by the real Leonard Nimoy) comes through the time vortex and discovers Kirk (Chris Pine) and present Spock (Zachary Quinto) are not the friends Future Spock thought they were. Future Spock puts events into motion to help Kirk realize Spock's importance as a friend and adviser, and together they must stop the evil Romulan warrior, Nero (Eric Bana) from destroying Earth. It's not as confusing as that may sound and the story is actually one of the film's biggest strengths, which is usually missing in big-budget summer blockbusters. Along with a strong plot, the acting is spot-on and a bunch of little known actors (at the time) fill the Starfleet uniforms with perfection. Chris Pine is excellent as Kirk, making the character his own while still having slight "homages" to the great William Shatner. Quinto is just as good as the seemingly emotionless Spock and the two have a chemistry together that keeps you excited about what adventures they will share in the future. Even the supporting cast is as strong, with Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Karl Urban (Bones), Simon Pegg (Scotty), John Cho (Sulu), and Anton Yelchin (Chekov) fitting their respective roles with the gravitas as though they were born for them. Everything simply works. Wonderfully.

Perfect. 

As you can probably already guess, I strongly recommend Star Trek. I remember seeing it theaters and just being blown away by the film. I was never a huge fan of the original TV series, but this film made me want to be a fan in the deepest way possible. I don't know if that was just a high from seeing a great movie in the best venue possible (a theater, not a computer screen) or if it was me being "converted" into a Trekkie. Either way, I am a fan, and I desperately want to see another Star Trek film sooner than later. The worst part of the movie is knowing that I will only get movies, and not a long running TV show with these characters (and actors) again. Just watch it, and enjoy. 

The Good:

on its own, Star Trek is a fast-paced, interesting, hilarious, and beautiful film

The Better:

the fact the film is not only good on its own, but is also a respectful, worthy entry to the franchise

The Best:

pitch-perfect casting in not only each iconic role, but even the secondary background characters

Overall: 9.4/10

Trailer: