The Rebirth of Star Trek.....

...But, only if the hard core Trekkie geeks are smart enough to embrace it!

I was very lucky enough in the fact that my "very good buddy", Spanky was more than kind enough to pick up a few tix for an advanced screening of J.J. Abrams' reboot to the Star Trek movie franchise last night.

The night started with us gorging out on huge gyros at the local Greek restaurant that was not too far from the classic movie theater the preview was shown at. The same one that I met Bruce Campbell at a few years back.

We walked over to the theater and got in a small line of about 10 people. After all, it was only an hour and ten minutes before we would be let into the theater. The line got pretty heavy with in the next 45 minutes. Apparently only 500 free preview tix were handed out for the special showing and many Trekkie's who got their hands on these magical tix showed up.

I was quite a bit disappointed that I didn't see anyone dressed in Federation uniforms or any Klingon's roaming about. I guess that will be for the official opening this weekend. We did meet up with our mutual geek bud, Coreboy and some of his entourage.

It took a while for the "security" (a couple of old dudes and one guy who was way too overweight to chase anybody down) to get their act together and let people into the theater. Once all was under control ('cause, God knows, Trekkie's can be one dangerous bunch of S.O.B's) they let us in, telling us to turn off our cell phones.

Once we found our seats we had to wait some more as local promoters had to organize their little shtick before the movie. Their little Schick was trying to shout over the crowd and name all of the sponsors who helped bring this special preview showing together. The sad thing is that most of us couldn't hear a frellin' thing they said.

Once they were done and out of the way the lights went down and they went right into the movie. There may be some spoilers here folks read on at your own risk, I'll try to black out the spoilers but, I'm not promising anything (highlight to read spoilers). Then the magic started!

First and foremost, this is a really fun Sci-Fi action and adventure movie. Forget that this is Star Trek for a minute. There are some really cool action sequences thrown into this thing that we've never seen in the entirety of the Star Trek motion picture series. There are some cool battleship sequences that doen't involve star ships moving as slow as molasses as we've seen in Wrath of Khan or any of the other Star Trek vehicles in media. The ship battles in this movie are balls out fast paced! There are shoot outs, fist fights and chase scenes that might be new to the the long lasting Star Trek fan. Trust me. This is a good thing.

Now let's get into why this movie truly rocks! Much like the movie Watchmen, the actors really, really care about the core material and those that were before them. It really shows. Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yeclhon and Bruce Geenwood all not only recreate the original Star Trek characters, they pay major homage to them. They really capture their essence and fully deliver without becoming an imitation or parody.

The main villian in this film is not overplayed as in past Trek vehicles. He's a real person with a bit of a legitimate gripe.

There's also a lot of humor in the film that is born from a lot of what we know form the series. Good references!

I have to admit that I was really trepitatious on the casting of Chris Pine as a young Captain James Tiberious Kirk. It seemed that Hollywood decided to cast what more looked like a J. Crew model rather than an actor. But, Chris Pine nailed it out of the park! He got the whole essence of Capt. Kirk without being a cheap imitation. He plays the cockiness and bravado of Kirk excellently. Never once does he become a goofy copy of the original. He gives it life with his own twist on it. I hope Paramount has locked him in to a few sequels!

And Quinto does a great young Spock. Nothing a lot of Heroes fan wouldn't have told you beforehand.

Lets face it, after the last few Star Trek movies, the franchise had died. They were shatting out what were basically made for TV movies of Next Generation. It became a joke and a dead genre.

When J.J. Abrams picked up the torch he really ran for it. Not only has he rekindled the spark, he reignited a whole forest fire. Let that forest burn the frack down, Madre Frellers!

Yes, J.J. does frack with the Star Trek mythose. But, at least he gives an honest explanation of it - highlight to read - (time travel story involving the original Spock), unlike the reboot of the James Bond series which tells fans to forget everything that has happened before, this reboot doesn't do that. J.J. had the respect to give Trekkie's a chance to view this reboot in the original pantheon of stories. He doesn't erase everything that's come before. He gives credit that it happened, but also gives an alternate reality within the historic reality to accept. The question is will fans accept it, or be an elitist bunch of turds to get all cheesed off and offended and dislike it.

Let's face facts. The Star Trek franchise was dying a very slow and painful death. If it weren't for this movie it would have been another 25 years before we saw any original Star Trek media, especially on the big screen!

This is the best thing to happen to this franchise in a long, long time. And if hard core Trekkie's don't have the brains to see what a blessing it is, they will threaten to destroy their very own kingdom. They need to let go of everything they know from the shows and novels and accept the grand gift that is being given to them.

J.J. and the screenwriters went well out of their way to keep the Star Trek story flowing without forgetting everything that has happened since. There is some really clever writing here. Trekkie's need to embrace it rather than be offended.

There are some issues that frack with the original continuity of the series and films, but it's for the good of the whole. There was even one issue that I (a non-Trekkie) had issues with. (Spock and Uhura hook up). I didn't like it. But, I was able to put it aside and accept it. They also really frack up a bit of the Federation and it's planets. (Romulus and Vulcan are destroyed). Though, I'm not convinced that this is a good thing when it comes to die-hard Trekkie's and their feelings, I accept it as I was entertained like I haven't been from a movie in a long, long time. And that's what the Star Trek movies needed!

Spanky is a die hard Trekkie and he loved it to no end. But, when I talked to other Trekkie's as I was leaving the theater, they weren't as enthusiastic. Perhaps they were offended by some of the lush changes that were presented in the movie from the mythos they were used to.

To that I say, grow up! Move out of your parents' basements and accept the love and warmth that is the new Star Trek. It is the only way your kind will survive and I've always believed that you should never look a wonderful gift horse in the mouth!

I say take your family and friends to go see it. It's a hell of a lot of fun. Kudos to the cast, crew and writers for giving Star Trek a good chance to survive.

Embrace it or fall. This is a very entertaining genre film, Trekkie or not!

Live long and prosper..... cliche, but who gives a FRACK:?

Zangz's!