It is appropriate that since a reboot is the cure-all for most modern technology, that the new Star Trek reboot is a perfect remake of the classic series that set the bar for much of sci-fi to come after it.
J.J. Abrams directed a script by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (the writing team behind Fringe, both Transformers movies 2007 and 2009, The Island and tons more). The new cast keeps what was good about the original series and gives it a modern update with fantastic special effects and modern storytelling.
Abrams and crew re-imagined the Trek universe with some time travel and actual scientific theory about black holes. The modern Trek tv shows have been known to integrate science into the storylines and embrace the smarter viewers without alienating viewers who were not up to snuff with the heavier theories behind it.
The new movie throws in the same intelligence and has enough action and a fast pace to draw the wide audience as well.
Right away, this movie grabs its audience and slams them hard with some pretty brutal action and raw emotional events that set the stage for a pretty complex story.
Fans of the classic series are up in arms about the retelling of the origins of these characters because they see the Roddenberry original as sacred and don't want it messed with. They are speculating about the new story and coming just short of crying blasphemy.
These people are crazy.
This reboot serves as an homage to the classic but manages to improve on all of the parts that were limited by the times and technology of the 1960s. The modern cast breath new life to dated characters and concepts that were so groundbreaking in their day that their fans are more loyal and dedicated now than they were in the original series run in 1966. Hopefully once these fans actually see the new Star Trek, they will realize the reverence that Abrams and crew hold for the original and embrace the new gang as much as the old gang.
The new Star Trek gets an A-.
--John Berry, Online Editor--