I'm an original fan of "Star Trek" when it aired in the '60s, a bigger fan of "Next Generation."

Zachary Quinto has the right Spock look, but both he and the kid playing the young Kirk have no actor's presence. The Kirk actor in particular has a smirking, "James Dean ain't got nuthin' on me" vibe. While the actor playing Scotty may turn out to be fine in the role, the snippet in the trailer makes him look like a loon.

Karl Urban, however, has always impressed me. Remember his turn as the young Julius Caesar in "Xena"? He might well make a good McCoy.

How fast and loose is Abrams playing with the series' established continuity? He's got Kirk, Spock, and McCoy as contemporaries, whereas McCoy was a bit older than Kirk, and Spock probably older than that in human years; he'd been on the Enterprise for quite some time before Kirk took command. And what are Romulans doing in young Kirk and Spock's world? The Romulan War, we were told, happened a century before Kirk was born, and they didn't pop up again until Kirk & Co. met them and their cloaking device.

Though I can go with a new backstory and history, as long as it's plausible, I don't care for a lot of the cast. Abrams is going to have to convince me.

But you're right. Something new will be a nice change.
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