Prior to my usual format for review, to be very clear we are not talking about the TV Series, or any of the movies other than the latest one released last year (2009).  That would make this movie technically called Star Trek XI, though it is not named that anywhere that I can see.

Synopsis (from IMDB):  On the day of James Kirk’s birth, his father dies on his ship in a last stand against a mysterious alien vessel. He was looking for Ambassador Spock, who is a child on Vulcan at that time, disdained by his neighbors for his half-human nature. Twenty years later, Kirk has grown into a young troublemaker inspired by Capt. Christopher Pike to fulfill his potential in Starfleet even as he annoys his instructors like young Lt. Spock. Suddenly, there is an emergency at Vulcan and the newly commissioned USS Enterprise is crewed with promising cadets like Nyota Uhura, Hikaru Sulu, Pavel Chekov and even Kirk himself thanks to Leonard McCoy’s medical trickery. Together, this crew will have an adventure in the final frontier where the old legend is altered forever even as the new version of it is just beginning.

I think that this is the first time that I have watched two science fiction movies back-to-back that I thoroughly enjoyed (I watched District 9 the previous evening).  I did not have high expectations for Star Trek, as I have watched all the previous movies and have not been terribly impressed since the second movie (The Wrath of Khan) all those many years ago.

To my pleasant surprise, this movie blew me away.  Rarely would I consider assigning four stars to a movie, but this film was certainly worthy of the honour (as dubious as it may be).  The plot was fantastic and J.J. Abrams did the impossible and rebooted the franchise sucessfully.  He, or any future director for that matter, is now clear to write what they would like while preserving the history of the original franchise (and the sequels).  What made this movie really good was the attention to detail and the little things.  Stuff like remembering Kirk’s past, the fact that Spock is half human and had problems coping with that, and the re-introduction of the elder Spock.

While I think it may have been fun to have had an appearance from the elder Kirk, or maybe some of the Next Generation crew, it would not have made the film any better.  In fact - it may have distracted from the storyline too much.  This is a film that should be checked out if you are a science fiction fan.

** Note:  I initially started this review months ago, I just did not finish it until today.