REVIEW: Star Trek: The IMAX Experience

Recently, my fiancee and I went to our first IMAX film, Star Trek: The IMAX Experience, at AMC Lowes 22 in Homestead, PA. To say the least, it was an amazing time.

Before I actually talk about the movie, let me recommend visiting the AMC Lowes 22 to anyone in the Pittsburgh area. It is a beautiful theater that is possibly the largest theater of its kind. It houses 22 screens and features an IMAX screen as well as several screens with balcony ("VIP") seating. The concession area is actually a 360 degree, elliptical counter that offers all the standard accoutrements at a very reasonable price. Upstairs, there is also a restaurant and a lounge area for people waiting to see a show. Furthermore, the theater is nestled in the Waterfront, a plaza-esque shopping area that has countless numbers of nice restaurants and popular stores that you would expect to find at a shopping mall.

Star Trek is a reboot of the popular TV series and film series that spanned that 70s and 80s. It is revisioning of the legendary characters, Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and the other officers of the U.S.S. Enterprise who fly around the galaxy in the name of United Federation of Planets and battles the likes of the Klingon and Romulan Empires. It takes place in the days when these characters were first exiting Starfleet Academy - a time long before that which took place in the TV or prior film series. The only returning actor from the original shows is Leonard Nimoy who reprises his role as the Mr. Spock who is accidentally sent backwards in time after being caught in a time warp.

Without revealing any more details about the film, I thought that the movie was excellent. The film was true to the original designs of the series, but were updated to meet the professional standards that you would find in films of this time. There are no more meaningless blinking lights. Equipment controls appear to mean something anyway. Furthermore, the story and the characters also seem to make more sense, although there are some minor changes pertaining to Spock's emotionality that seem to rob him of that cold objectivity that made him the perfect counterpoint to McCoy's fiery convictions and Kirk's calm sense of balanced sensibility. In the end, the movie ends up becoming a divergence from the Star Trek timeline while still remaining a part of it.

I am excited to see the evolution of this new Star Trek. It has always been my favorite franchise as an adult. Star Wars, while certainly a fantastic science fiction set of works, became less appealing to me as an adult while Star Trek became more so. I highly recommend this movie so go see it as soon as you can.