The current Star Trek movie: A new reality check?

Last night I ventured out with a few friends to view Paramount's new Star Trek movie. I was very excited about the new film, like many other trek fans, but at the same time I wondered how the new film would bode with an old canon.

There can be a danger in revisiting old characters in a franchise that has been around for over 40 years. To replace the old crew of the original Star Trek series with new fresh faces may be exciting, but it is also treacherous territory. Sure, many argue that a host of characters have played James Bond or Dr. Who. So why can't a new guy play Captain Kirk?

But unlike James Bond or Dr. Who, Captain Kirk was not ageless. William Shatner played this role through decades and the good old captain, like all of us, aged. So going back before James T. Kirk was captain of the Starship Enterprise leaves one major problem: eventually he will get to the age that Kirk was in the original series of the 60s. Then what? That story from there on has already been told.

The answer? Create a new reality. It seems as implausible as it does simple. I can imagine that in some cases it would be a disaster to propose to an already large fan base that we are going to take the characters you love and cherish and place them in a different time line. But that is what JJ Abrams and his team did with this new movie. And this is one Star Trek fan who thinks it worked.

Now they have the original set of characters ready to go on new adventures, explore new worlds, etc., and no one can say they are breaking the forever worshiped Star Trek canon so loved by the hardcore fans. Why? Because this new cast are in a totally new time line. Yet they are still the same characters on the same ship working in the same Federation. Brilliant? Well, maybe not, but damn clever.

This movie was a complete setup. If we tear away the introduction of the characters and look at the movie's plot of the Romulan Nero who is out for revenge, the story itself is weak compared to some of the ambitious plots of previous Star Trek movies. But this first movie was a teaser - an establishing story which places enough pleasing reminders of who the characters are for the old fan base and new exciting possibilities for a new fan base.

Additionally, the new cast was obviously carefully selected and well coached. There were times when Chris Pine sat in that captain's chair, I had to stop and remind myself this is a new Captain Kirk, not William Shatner.

Yet at the same time, Pine clearly plays a younger Kirk who really has yet to mature. You see the potential, but you know he still has a lot of growing up to do. There has been some criticism of his character, but I think the approach to this younger Kirk is worth the viewing.

This young sometimes smug irritating Kirk brings one back to the Star Trek: The Next Generation series. I always thought it would have been interesting to see the younger Captain Jean Luc Picard that the older character played by Patrick Stewart was always so critical. He never was overally impressed with himself as a young cadet and while we got glimpses of this young man in some of the episodes, he was never fully explored. But with the new Star Trek movie hopefully we will get to see the character development of a young Star Trek captain - the captain of the original series - and that could be an interesting journey.

A few younger people have told me they really enjoyed the film and, yes, to reach the younger generation the special effects will be dizzying, and it is doubtful we will see salt shakers used as medical devices. But we are living in a new age and Star Trek is too.

So hopefully this new venture will live long and prosper, or in the simple words of Spock in the new movie (yah, the Nimoy Spock) - "good luck."

Oh, and has anyone noticed the merchandise? I am never a big fan of needless junk, but it is kind of exciting to see Star Trek action figures and posters!

Below is a spoof on the die hard older fan base who are critical of the new Star Trek film: