REVIEW OF NEW "STAR TREK" FILM, BY MARTY MURRAY

"Star Trek" - four stars out of five

This is a very interesting and creative new take on the original Star Trek television series, and it pays homage in many ways. It has a great cast who do a fine job filling the shoes of the original crew, and in particular Zachary Quinto as Mr. Spock and the young fellow who plays Chekov stand out. I think Chris Pine, as Captain Kirk, is a bit too young for the role, but I'm nitpicking there. The old uniforms are back, and the Enterprise itself has never looked better. The storyline is detailed and involves time travel and a bunch of badass Romulan rebels attempting to exact revenge on Vulcan and the Federation for the destruction of their own home planet. Romulus and Vulcan were never destroyed in the original series, so this is just one of the new directions taken with this film. It's a solid, action-packed adventure film that just flies past, and it's very well done. I'm looking forward to the next two films, as everyone involved has been signed on for two more. Nice to see Canadian Bruce Greenwood, a favourite actor of mine, as Captain Pike, and he comes out much better here than he did in the original Star Trek pilot. Also good to see Leonard Nimoy as "old Spock," but the poor guy is indeed looking very old these days. Ben Cross does a fine job of playing his father, Sarek. Some cool new additions are the new phasers which act more like guns, and the jumps to warp speed, which are quite startling! Go forth and prosper.

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