Boldly Starting at the Beginning(WARNING: Some Spoilers Ahead)

I was able to catch a 7 PM showing of Star Trek last night. And while it wasn't at matinee prices, it was well worth the extra three bucks.

As pretty much the entire world knows, the cast is entirely new. The only exception to that is Leonard Nimoy, who plays an old Spock thanks to some time warp thingamajig. At the same time, the movie did manage to avoid the classic time travel story that has become so tiresome. The writers simply established an entirely new Trek timeline and left at that. There was no going back and setting everything right.

My one complaint about this aspect of the movie is that the two Spocks eventually meet and the universe doesn't end!!! That seems to run counter to everything science has taught us over the years.

It's refreshing to have young, physically fit characters running around, getting into fights, and leaping from spaceships towards the planet below. It certainly gives new meaning to the word "skydiving."

The movie starts appropriately enough with the birth of the familiar James T. Kirk, and he immediately begins hitting on the cute olive skinned female baby in the adjacent crib. Kirk's mother turns out to be the hot Cameron Chase character from TV's House. Fortunately, however, Doctor House was not Kirk's dad.

Over the course of the next half hour we--and Kirk--end up meeting people like McKoy (who wastes no time bitching about space travel), Sulu (who again shows off his fencing skills), Chekov, and Uhura. Predictably, Kirk's first encounter with Uhura is in a bar where he unsuccessfully hits on her. Much to his consternation, she later gets the hots for Spock.

But the highlight of the movie comes when we finally meet Scotty, played by Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead). Although the character borders on raving lunacy, he's already an engineering genius.

I'll pass on describing the storyline any further, except to say that it works. This new Trek is an action packed two hours with some tremendous special effects. It should also appeal to non-Trekkers, mainly because it doesn't assume that you already know the characters.