The new Star Trek is directed by JJ Abrams and reboots the series back to the beginning by creating an alternative timeline.  I read a preview of the movie over on /Film that described the premise and had extremely low expectations of the movie.  JJ Abrams is widely praised by a small group of passionate fans but I am much less impressed with his work.  The only work that ever grabbed me was Lost but I’ve never seen a show become as much of a chore to watch.  I happily gave up on that show a couple seasons ago.  Needless to say, I was not optimistic that JJ Abrams time-traveling tendencies were going to do anything but kill off the last remaining Star Trek nostalgia.

I am not what one would consider a Trekkie.   The original Star Trek series was enjoyable enough but it never really caught me like it did many others — it was a bit before my time, I guess.  I never paid much attention to any of the later series but when I did happen to catch the odd show, it ranged from “all right” to “who watches this stuff?”.

As far as the movies though, I thoroughly enjoyed II – The Wrath of Khan, IV – The Voyage Home, and VI – The Undiscovered Country, the three of the so-called “even-numbered” Star Trek movies with the original cast; the rule of thumb being that the even-numbered movies were the good ones.   The last of the “good” Star Trek movies, VIII – Insurrection, didn’t impress as much but that’s possibly because I never found The Next Generation cast as compelling as The Original Series cast.

I typically find time-travel movies/books instantly worthless as there will inevitable be too many plot-holes to tie the story together (see Lost above).  However, on very rare occasions, a movie/book can overcome that and succeed.  The Back To The Future movies have been the only exceptions I ever held to my “time-travel stories suck” — the exception that proves the rule — until Star Trek.

Not to say Star Trek didn’t have massive plot holes that weren’t glaringly obvious.  It just succeeded with a very entertaining story, a great foundation for future adventures, and a superb cast based on the original series characters.   Simon Pegg as Scotty?!   Yes, please!

Space… the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before.

The premise of Star Trek — man’s voyages to discover space — is simple, open-ended, and a great foundation for some truly great entertainment.   I highly recommend the new movie, plot holes and all, and am looking forward to the future sequels.   Star Trek is now relevant again.