" Still, it is fun...and it is worth seeing...so long as you shut your brain off long before you walk into the theater. "

      Title: Star Trek by Paramount

      Format: Major Motion Picture

      Reviewing Monkey: Dungapult

     Okay, this is going to be a tough review for me to write for two reasons. First, knowing our audience, I know that I'll be skinned and roasted alive if I set out too many spoilers...which limits how much about the movie I can actually say. Second, because I am not really a Trek fan.
     It's not that I hate Trek, per se, but that I just don't like it. I did when I was a kid. Specifically, I liked the first and second series (original and Next Gen), but by the time I was old enough to really get into it, I was also old enough take exception to some of the really, really stupid things they do in Trek. And, sadly, almost all of those things are represented in the new movie.

• Completely bullshit scenario involving scientifically-laughable time travel? Check.
• Junk science that claims something is impossible, only minutes before they do it anyways? Check.
• Invincible enemy that is only defeated by using junk science? Check.
• Deus Ex Machina that provides said junk science and only chance for survival? Check.
• Complete lack of ANY kind of military theory or strategy? Check.
• Preposterous scenario that asks...nay, demands...that Kirk and Spock be the ONLY TWO people in the universe that can save humanity? Check.
• Equally preposterous scenario that has the two of them, the Captain and First Officer of their vessel, transporting alone into a hostile environment to take on legions of bad guys without backup, body armor, or even their weapons drawn? Check and Mate.

     Which is not, of course, to say that the movie's bad. It's not. It's fun and periodically exciting. It's well produced with great CGI. It's very, very pretty. It's a nice (though not perfect) nod to the franchise's history and these characters' pasts.
     In other words, it's mindlessly entertaining.
     Perhaps most importantly, however, it's also a successful reboot of the franchise. Walking in the steps of Batman Begins, it does a good job of saying, "forget everything that's come before us...we're in virgin territory here" and moving forward. It also does a great, if not absolutely fantastic, job of recasting the original crew. The new Kirk is wonderfully brash and arrogant, the new Spock balances emotion and logic well, and the new bridge crew is completely serviceable (even if they don't get much of a chance to shine).
     Absolutely standout, though, are Simon Pegg as Scotty and Karl Urban as Bones. These two hit a perfect balance of bringing the old characters back to life while infusing a new energy all their own. Urban, in particular, acts like he's channeling a much younger, and more vibrant, version of DeForest Kelley and should get whatever the geek form of the Oscars is.
     Which, barring a potential award for special effects, is the only Oscar this flick will get within a light-year of.
      Still, it is fun...and it is worth seeing...so long as you shut your brain off long before you walk into the theater.

      The Verdict: