Chet Chutney (shiftyeyeddog)

J.J. Abrams has taken Trek and infused it with Star Wars-style action and excitement (in addition to numerous plot similarities). After creating one of the best TV shows ever (Lost), then making the best of the Mission: Impossible films, I was sure he could bring exciting new life to a dying (if not dead) franchise. ...and he didn't disappoint. The action works, the humor works, the drama works... and most importantly the casting is perfect. The best characters in this movie were Bones (Karl Urban) and Scotty (Simon Pegg), and I hope they (along with Anton Yechin's Chekov and John Cho's Sulu) are given much more to do in future installments. Zachary Quinto did a fine take on Spock, though I wasn't blown away like so many people seem to be. If I have one complaint about this film, it's that they chose to focus so much on Spock, whom I've always considered one of the weaker and more overrated characters.

There are other tiny things - the pointless and odd casting of Winona Ryder and Tyler Perry, the use of 20th Century cars and music (written off as "retro"), etc. - but that's mostly just nitpicking. So, while not a perfect film, it's a damn fun ride, and by FAR the best Star Trek movie to date. It's also, so far, the film to beat for 2009. A fun flick on every level.

This movie is like if the guys who made the Crank movies made a ripoff of Death Race and threw in elements of The Sims. ...Oh wait, that's exactly what it is.

Yes, the Crank guys have shown they are one-note directors. The style here might have seemed original and fitting of the film's surreal in-game atmosphere, if only they hadn't already used it in their other films. As it is,the film has nothing original, but still manages to be fun. One thing they certainly don't skimp on is the action. And how can you not like a movie that starts out with a live-action teabag?!?
The cast is so very random, with small pointless parts for people like Alison Lohman and Milo Ventimiglia. Butler does just fine, but the real standout here is Michael C. Hall, who surprised me by making for a perfect cocky, smarmy, egomaniacal villain.