To Boldly Go...

...where we've totally gone before. That said, I really liked the new "Star Trek." I am not a Trek fan, per se, but I've watched most of the movies, watched some of the series(eses?), and have a general pop culture awareness of the franchise.

It needs to be said that I am a *huge* J.J. Abrams fan. After 6 seasons of Alias, and four of Lost, I love the man's work. I think he is a great director and despite screaming obscenities at him a few times (the entire fifth season of Alias, anyone?), I will almost inevitably watch something he has created.

That said, Star Trek is good. Great, even. It's funny, action-packed, doesn't feel too long, and is just faithful enough to the original to make everyone happy without being textbook. I loved Uhura, and the fact that her skirts haven't gotten any longer. I loved Chekhov and his teenage enthusiasm. Indie Rocker and I both giggled "Harold!" as soon as we saw John Cho onscreen as Sulu, and we both laughed heartily at the Red Shirt shout-out.

And to be honest, the two best things about the movie are Karl Urban as Dr. "Bones" McCoy and Simon Pegg as Scotty. Brilliant, pitch-perfect casting on both of them. I adore them individually as actors, but they were truly excellent here.

More than anything, I love that Abrams has a knack for managing large casts. He knows how to organize the group so that you can follow each thread, but not get bogged down in the details. It would have been really easy to focus solely on Kirk and Spock and forget entirely about Chekhov, Sulu, and the rest. But Abrams didn't, and the movie is much better for it. I'm totally in for the sequel.

Quote of the Day: "Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life-forms and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before." Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Star Trek.