Star Trek - 3 1/2 stars

This is the Star Trek movie I have always hoped for. The effects and action scenes are great, and there is more humor in this than most Star Trek movies. Its better than the last Star Trek movie (Nemesis), but to be fair, a Lifetime movie of the week is better than Nemesis.

What I liked:

Karl Urban as Leonard "Bones" McCoy. When I first heard he was cast, I couldn't picture it. The same guy who said "We cannot achieve victory thru strength of arms" in Return of the King calling Spock a green-blooded hobgoblin? No way. But holy crap, he is the highlight of the movie for me. Bones was always my favorite character in the original movies, and he plays Bones perfectly.

Chris Pine as James T. Kirk. I last saw Chris Pine in Bottle Shock, and I didn't think much of him. He looks like a pretty boy. But wow, he really plays a good Captain Kirk. By the end of the movie when he assumes the captain's chair, I really believed in him as a leader.

The humor in the movie. Its mostly not slapstick humor (with a few exceptions), but it comes from the characters and their relationships, which is always the best kind of humor.

Eric Bana as Nero. He was an entertaining villain. I love when he addresses Captain Pike as Christopher the first time they talk on the viewscreen.

What I didn't like (or I'm not so sure about):

Nero's motive. It was kind of stupid. He blames the federation, and Spock in particular, for something that happened to his home planet ... oh what the hell, I'll spoil it. His planet was destroyed and his family killed. But it was destroyed by a supernova. It wasn't anybody's fault. In fact, Spock was racing to try and save them. But because he didn't do it in time, Nero blames him. I can't believe that no one bothers to speak up and say this too him. Not that it would make much of a difference, but I wanted to hear someone make that argument to him in the movie.

The music. Well, that's not true. I did like the music. I just wanted to hear more of the original theme music, especially in the beginning.

Chekov. Anton Yelchin does an ok job as Chekov, and his accent isn't too bad, but its a little too over the top. Plus, why does the character have to be 17 years old? What's the point in that? Yelchin is 20, and I could have easily believed him to be in his early 20's.

The ages in general. It seems like every member of the cast is in their early 20's (except McCoy). Wouldn't they need to serve for years before getting into their positions on the ship? I also had a hard time believing that they would all go from cadets to running a starship in the course of the movie. Kirk has never served on a starship before, and suddenly he is first officer, then captain. More time should have passed in this movie.

In this movie, Kirk enters Starfleet, and then we see the words Three Years Later. Then we are into the Kobayashi Maru sequence. They should have had another few years pass and shown the crew serving in various capacities on the Enterprise or other starships. I know I'm nitpicking, and it would have been hard to make that work with this story, but I just can't buy them this young and in command this quickly.

I'm not so sure I like Leonard Nimoy in this movie. It kind of reminds me of Superman Returns. When I heard they were considering Superman Returns to be a kind of sequel to Superman I and II, and Marlon Brando would be used as Jor-El, I was excited. But when I look back, I think one of the things that hurt Superman Returns was how much it couldn't compare to the original movies. They should have made the new movie have nothing to do with the old ones. I think the same thing about Star Trek. I know the time travel thing makes everything work, continuity-wise, but it might have been better to have this be a true reboot/remake/whatever, and say this movie is not part of the original canon, and start a brand new franchise fresh.

Scotty. I love Simon Pegg. I love Shaun of the Dead and Spaced. And I like Hot Fuzz. I thought Simon Pegg was funny as Scotty, but I don't remember Scotty being this ridiculous. Just too over the top funny. And I hated his little sidekick.

Anyway, those are my feelings so far. I did enjoy the movie a lot, and I will go see it again. I know my list of 'likes' was shorter than my list of 'don't likes', but I am a fan, and I get to nit pick. When I see the movie for a second time, my opinion may change. I deliberately didn't list how I felt about Zachary Quinto as Spock, because I am still making up my mind about how I felt about his character. He's not quite the Spock I remember, but I guess that is kind of the point.