STAR TREK

Star Trek is the 2009 cinematic reboot of the legendary TV & film franchise. It tells the story of the formation of the legendary crew of the Enterprise. To be honest, I was a bit hesitant about watching this film since I really couldn't imagine seeing any other actors portraying the characters Kirk, Spock, et al, than the original actors who made the characters so memorable. However, I must say I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the performances of the actors portraying the original characters. The plot centers around a renegade Romulan named Nero who swears revenge against Spock whom he blames for the destruction of his home plant of Romulus. (Watch the movie to get the exact details of this, all right?) So Nero takes his ship back in time and wreaks havoc on the past's events, including destroying the ship where the future Captain Kirk's father was on and, of course, destroying the planet Vulcan as he swore he would do to future Spock. Before the destruction of Vulcan, we get to see Kirk & Spock as cadets at Starfleet Academy where they take an immediate dislike to each other after Spock accuses the rather arrogant Kirk of cheating during his by-now-infamous Kobayashi Maru test (see Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan). Kirk's trial is interrupted when Star Fleet receives a distress call from the planet Vulcan. Everyone gets assigned to a starship save for Kirk due to his impending investigation. However, with the help of none other than Dr. McCoy a.k.a. Bones whom Kirk had already befriended, he's able to sneak on board the Enterprise where Spock is serving on. While on board the Enterprise, Kirk sneaks onto the bridge--much to Spock's chagrin--and tells Capt. Pike (see the original TV series) that he believes all the other starships had fallen into a trap and that Vulcan was also being attacked. After seeing that Kirk is right, Pike promotes Kirk to first officer--again, much to Spock's chagrin--after he agrees to go onto the enemy ship per Nero's request and leaves Spock in command. Spock is able to save his father and a few other high-ranking Vulcans--but not his mother (played by noted kleptomaniac Winona Ryder)--before Vulcan is completely destroyed by Nero. (Again, watch the movie for details about how this is done, OK?) This leaves Spock "emotionally compromised" of which Kirk takes full advantage of at the behest of the future Spock whom the younger Kirk meets after the younger Spock maroons him on a planet where future Spock had himself been marooned on by Nero after Kirk challenged one of his orders. Before going back onto the Enterprise, future Spock and younger Kirk meet up with Scotty (as in "Beam me up, Scotty!" even though that was never said on the show) who accompanies Kirk onto the Enterprise sans future Spock via Scotty's new form of transportation. After Kirk & Scotty sneak onto the bridge of the Enterprise, Kirk deliberately picks a fight with the younger Spock--again, at future Spock's request--so that everyone will see how "emotionally compromised" he is. Because of this, Spock relinquishes command and Kirk takes over and orders the Enterprise to confront the Romulan ship where Capt. Pike is being tortured by Nero. Of course, an epic battle ensues (and I, of course, won't tell you how it all ends, although you can probably already figure that one out for yourself even if you haven't yet watched the film). Like I said, I was somewhat hesitant about watching the rebooted Star Trek movie, but I did find myself enjoying it. And I must say I also quite enjoyed the performances of the cast, especially Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock. However, with that being said, I feel that no one can "replace" the original actors William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy (who, of course, played future Spock in the rebooted movie), et al, as I'm sure diehard fans of Star Trek would agree. Oh yeah, we also learn in this film that Spock and Uhura--played by the "uber" hot Zoe Saldana (who, of course, starred in the box office hit Avatar)--had apparently been bumping Vulcan uglies for quite some time. "Live long & prosper!" indeed! A sidenote: William Shatner stated in interviews how "upset" he was that he wasn't "invited" to star in the rebooted Star Trek. In one story I read about some Star Trek convention both he and Leonard Nimoy attended, Shatner reportedly ranted & raved during a Q & A session onstage so much about him not starring in the new Star Trek film that he reportedly had to be led off the stage, leaving a reportedly embarrassed Nimoy to "apologize" to the audience. Shatner reportedly started later on how this was all an "act" on his part and that he was never really all that "upset" about his not starring in the newest Star Trek flick. Knowing Bill Shatner's "reputation" for kidding around, this is probably true. You think?