Warp Speed Achieved!

All right, full disclosure, I cannot stand Star Trek. I worked with Trekkers or Trekkies or whatever for a time and got dragged to Wrath Of Khan, which I actually enjoyed because Ricardo Montalbon made a memorable villain. Unfortunately he didn't blow up Shatner and the gang and put an end to this whole "enterprise". I never watched the television show, I never saw another Star Trek movie and I found the whole Trek cult kind of disturbing.


So why did we go to the new Star Trek movie currently in theaters today? Because J J Abrams is the only guy on earth who can interest me in geek culture. Lost is the best TV drama ever. Cloverfield was a decent movie. Fringe is so weird I can't stop watching it. One of these days I'll get around to watching Mission Impossible III. Alias was good on the two occasions I stumbled upon it. Felicity? Not really in my wheelhouse.


This flick rocks. All the Trek jokes are there. Kirk, Sulu and some guy you've never seen going to the strange planet, gee, guess who will die?. Dammit Jim. Givin' it all I got Cap'n. The Vulcan grip. Chekhov's undecipherable accent. The whole Spock emotion thing. The captain's chair Kirk gets booted out of at one point. It was just fun.


I have no idea what they were talking about 90% of the time. But like Lost, or Fringe, I didn't care because it was interesting. Interesting! The key to a good movie.


But one more thing. I figured out during the two hours this film played why I never really cared for Star Trek. No, it wasn't the freaks applauding at key points (can you imagine what opening night was like?) or the two ten year old girls behind us talking, or the fact Zachary Quinto will always be Sylar to me, or Leonard Nimoy's Easter Island. type face. Nope, I didn't like Star Trek because of the presence of William Shatner. What a pleasure that bloated, overacting parody of himself didn't show up. J J Abrams is not only a genius, he's also one helluva casting director.