Saturday Night, one of my daughters was hosting a sleepover for two of her friends. As these tend to invovle a lot of shrieking, it took very little convincing to get the two other kids to flee the house with me to see Star Trek.
While I would never characterize myself as a Trekkie or Trekker, I did grow up watching and loving the original Star Trek. I watched the odd episode of Next Generation but never really got into it.
So, okay, as someone who grew up steeped in the mythology of the original Star Trek, I have to say I freakin' loved this movie. It completely kicked my ass.
I do have to say that while the reviews have stressed that anyone can enjoy this movie, Trek fan or not, it is definitely more fun if you're familiar with the original series. The kids, Star Trek novices, did not get the same jolt I did with the first appearance of every character, or when Spock first said "fascinating" or when Scotty shouted that his engines were already at full capacity. (Simon Pegg, by the way, rules. Awesome performance.)
Overall, I would say this movie is not quite as good as Wrath of Khan, but probably better than The Journey Home. I guess I'd put it on the same level as Star Trek III: The Search For Spock.
SPOILER ALERT: READ NO FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE!!.
Perhaps the cleverest thing about this movie is the whole time-travel alternate reality thing the writers have created. (Written by the blockbuster team of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. One of whom expressed interest in optioning one of my books and then claimed not to have any money to pay for an option. Yeah, because you probably didn't make any money writing Transformers or Star Trek or Mission Impossible 3, you cheap-ass bitch!) This allows them to totally monkey with the Star Trek continuity in this and future movies while having the excuse that it's an alternate reality created when Nero came through the black hole! Clever! (Also--Spock/Uhura romance: hott!)
Anyway, my advice is, go see this movie now if you haven't already. It's a ton of fun!
