So, of the 2 or 3 people that read my Quantum of Solace review, you may recall a harsh statement about the new Star Trek movie I made as a closing statement. My issue then was that Hollywood was going to once again rehash an old idea hoping they can make lightening strike again by dumbing it down for the Disney Channel crowd while still trying to cater to fans of the original series, thus collapsing under its own weight and becoming a joke. How could you blame me? Die Hard, Shutter, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Terminator, it all goes to show that you can’t trust Hollywood with anything good. So hopefully you can tell how taken aback I was sitting before the early reviews for Star Trek, comparing it to last year’s Iron Man as the first great summer blockbuster, but now that I’ve finally seen the movie I should probably wait a bit to form my next prediction on upcoming releases so it wouldn’t look like I have mystical powers to see into the future and be totally right.

Okay, okay, I kid. Star Trek is terrific. It’s got some great CGI, all shown off with director J.J. Abrams’ unique tracking shots which definitely amp up the action sequences quite a bit, but what really kept me interested were the characters. Despite not having seen enough of the original series to be familiar with the characters, Star Trek still manages to make me love them from beginning to end, and the chemistry between Kirk and Spock make for some of the best moments in the movie.

But if I have to complain, I’d say it’s the story that annoyed me the most. It involves the time traveling through black holes using a substance called red matter, which can also be used to destroy planets if it were to fall into the wrong hands (which it does, obviously). But here’s the thing: there are so many contradictions and inconsistencies when it comes to time travel since it is such an overpowering ability if used correctly, and it seems like every movie that involves time travel has plot holes the size of… black holes, I guess. It’s not that big an issue anyway, it just makes your brain hurt.

As I said before, the movie does a lot to cater to casual audiences that haven’t seen the original series. Judging by a handful of Next Generation episodes I’ve watched, it does a lot to stray away from the old and dated formula that once was and presents a new and exciting take on the Star Trek universe that pleases casual audiences and hardcore Trekkies alike. So far I haven’t heard any whining about Star Trek, so I’m happy that J. J. Abrams was able to please the not-easily-pleased. Zack Snyder tried to please fans with his Watchmen movie and got a lot of undeserved hatred for incorporating some of his own creativity into the project and pissing off fans on a laughable scale, especially when they started calculating the graphic-novel-to-movie ratio of the amount of time they showed Dr. Manhatten’s penis onscreen.

So anyway, it boils down to this: If you want a smart, fun, memorable sci-fi blockbuster to get you pumped up, then see Star Trek, because it certainly can.