I want to see it again

(one of my favorite scenes with Bones. Karl Urban nails it.).

Yes, it was that good. Now, I don't know if I'd go as far to say that non Trekkies will flock to see this film (like the way Peter Jackson made it "cool" to be a LOTR fan or Sam Raimi with his Spiderman trilogy) but I think if there is ever going to be a Trek film to hook mainstream audiences in, this is it. When I was in line I was pleasantly surprised to see a diverse group of people anxiously waiting and during the movie, there was plenty of applause during key character introductions, key scenes as well as the ending. It was great "opening day" experience.

On the film itself - the writing was snappy, the chemistry among the new Enterprise crew was great, and the visual effects were very impressive (especially on the Imax screen!). Generally, the character performances were very good but I got huge laughs from Bones (Karl Urban), Chekov (Anton Yelchin) and Scottie (Simon Pegg). I felt these guys really captured the essence of the original characters and thankfully without the SNL parody.

Some misses - At times I felt the pace was a bit frenetic. After the emotionally charged, EPIC prologue, the ending was not quite on the same caliber. Sulu (John Cho) was kind of treated as an afterthought. Nero (Eric Bana) didn't make much of an impression on me. I don't think it was Eric Bana's fault. I think the script made him too one-dimensional. He simply didn't have the cool lines like Khan had in Star Trek II or the Shakespeare quotes that General Chang had in Star Trek VI. My nerd nitpick - I had mixed feelings on the appearance of the Enterprise, specifically the Nacelles. I won't spoil it by going into detail however. And lastly, some of the memorable quotes Trekkies all know and love felt shoehorned at times.

So does this film replace Khan as the all time best Star Trek film? My own view is probably not. But I'd say it is hands down better than ANY of the TNG films (yes, even First Contact) and maybe 2nd to the "Genesis" films and Undiscovered Country. JJ Abrams has definitely brought the Trek universe back to life. Day one purchase on Blu Ray for sure.


Update: I recently read that the movie was shot on 35mm film and did not use IMAX or digital HD cameras. For the IMAX presentation, apparently upconversion or "IMAX DMR"was used. I think that would explain the softer picture I experienced at my local IMAX theater compared to when I saw The Dark Knight which had used an IMAX camera for specific shots. These days I much prefer digital DLP over film theaters for the sharpness, detail and overall image pop. I never thought I'd ever say that film projectors are just too soft for me now. I might go to the local Krikorian theater which has a Christie 2K DLP projector for a 2nd viewing.