STAR TREK MOVIE REVIEW

I think JJ Abrams and crew have hit it out of the park and have re-energized the franchise with the new STAR TREK movie. The movie was fun, dramatic, funny, and the production values were stellar. I think all of the actors played their parts very well.

I didn't "get" (at all) the story line about Spock and Uhura being all over each other but hey, maybe that was a part of the alternate universe the story line makes reference to? (I often get lost when watching sci fi.) A romantic liaison between the two was not even hinted at in the STAR TREK universe I'm familiar with. Last I knew, Uhura and Scotty seemed to be an item, or on the verge of becoming one. And I hate to think of Uhura, lovely as she is, "making the rounds" of the starship. I'm an old-fashioned (monogamy-minded) girl.

As to how I think Karl Urban did as the new McCoy: He made the new McCoy uniquely his own, just as De made the original McCoy uniquely his own. The two actors are not perfectly interchangeable in the McCoy role because each actor brought to it his own soul, style, and sensibilities.

I truly believe that Karl Urban did as good a job of "representing" (as opposed to "resurrecting") the character of McCoy as anyone on the planet is capable of doing today. McCoy's mannerisms and sardonic humor are there. Urban definitely did his homework, as did the writers of the show. Urban and the writers "got" -- and get -- McCoy. There is no doubt about that.

That said, there is really no "De" in the new McCoy that I could see. (But this is expecting far too much of anyone who isn't De!) Urban "channels" Dr. McCoy beautifully. But McCoy without De is, for me (and perhaps only for me) missing a crucial element.

I guess that's because I was so close to De that I always resonated most to the De "flavoring" in McCoy more than I did to the McCoy character itself. So my perspective is perhaps unique, so in no way do I want this "problem" of mine to come across as anything less than a stellar review of Urban's portrayal.

Bottom line: I give a resounding thumbs up to BOTH McCoys... the old and the new. Each took the character and gave him life that throbs and dances on the screen. Both made magic.

Urban did a masterful job.

I just miss De... and always will. So watching a new McCoy is both joyous and bittersweet to me.

LONG LIVE BOTH McCOYS!