Star Trek = Good.

No, it was really good. So good I am trying to encourage everyone to go see it. Support this movie, because I want more of this Star Trekk and I want it soon.

It was so entertaining in fact that it made me do a quick review of movies I have seen in the theater since 2006 simply to double check my gut reaction. I went back to 2006 since that was the year my daughter was born, and when my movie watching habits changed dramactically. I also limited my list to Movies in the theater, because I feel it is a completely different experience than watching at home.

The verdict? Out of the around a dozen movies I rank Star Trek right up there with The Dark Night. I believe them to be very different movies, but I would rank them very close in terms of satisfaction of my dollars spent.  Instead of ranking them on an individual level, I grouped them together with other movies I saw in that time that gave me the same feeling of fun value.

I. The Dark Knight, Star trek

These two stand out of the pack by a long shot; they set the bar for my action movie rankings.

II. Ironman, Die Hard 4 , Cloverfield , Superman Returns, Pirates 2, Watchmen

These are the movies that I felt were a lot of fun, and left me walking out of the theater happy to have spent my money; yet they were simply not as good as the group I films.

I thought Ironman was “fun”, and comic booky, but it felt very shallow and I was not a fan of the “boss fight”. Die Hard 4, was pure adrenalin John McLain fun that made me chuckle with the movie.  I was one of those that thought Cloverfield was a great ride, I did not “think” too much and simply followed these people and their actions praying they survive.  Superman was an odd beast for me. While yes parts of it made me want to puke with the crazyness, on a whole I was entertained and happy to have seen it in the theater at Imax in 3d.

Pirates 2, brought back a the fun pirate action, but left me feeling as though I was missing a some of the story. This one could easily have slipped down to the next group, but since I thought it was better than the 3rd movie, I felt it should move stay in group II.

Edit: How could I forget Watchmen. I felt despite the changes, particularly the ending, that the movie did a good job of retelling the main story in the graphic novel. A good movie for me, and average fan of the book, but probably not as good for many others.

III. Quantum of solace, Mission impossible 3, Pirates 3, Transformers

Group III are all movies I enjoyed while I was in the the theater, but as soon as I walked out I started to wonder about them. Still glad I saw them first in the theater, but probably would have enjoyed them on DvD.

MI 3 was better than I expected, and Quantum worse but they both provided me with some very entertaining spy action. Almost every scene with a human in it was terrible in Transformers, but the robots (except when “hiding” in the yard) were great. To bad there were so many human scenes. And while the pirates finale was not nearly as good as the first two Depp saves it (even when his lines are bad).

While I might sneak out to see Transformers 2 (because giant robots are so much cooler when they are on a giant screen), I don’t expect to see anything other than Terminator Salvation in the theater this summer. I strongly doubt it will be a movie I rank in category I, but the terminator franchise holds a special place in my heart. One that deserves me seeing it in the theater.