As a longtime Star Trek fan, I found myself both pleased and disappointed with this movie. On the upside, the cast has a great deal of potential and certainly talented. Considering how sequels are planned, I look forward to seeing more of these fresh, young faces. The special effects certainly were a treat too. On the downside, the story was bland and the villain boring and two-dimensional. Star Trek movies seem to have trouble producing a truly enthralling and memorable villain - with the exception of Khan and Chang. I also did not like how some of the characters entered relationships that the same characters on the original series never pursued. I will not offer spoilers, but two characters that never showed an interest in the 1960s series or the movies do so here and it just did not feel right. Speaking of feeling, this film does feature characters that feel more “real” as the franchise has been shifted in tone so that the characters in this movie could basically be interchanged with characters from other movies that are set in present time, which is not a bad thing. All in all, a decent, although not great movie. AMT117