New "Trek" Prequel Casting Set

Mixed bag, IMO.

Kirk: Chris Pine - have no idea who this guy is. Probably a good thing. But to me he looks like your standard garden-variety metrosexual hollywood girlie man. Tough shoes to fill. Especially considering they're not Prada.

Spock: Zachary Quinto - gets rave reviews for "Heroes" though I've never seen the show. Can pass for a young Nimoy. Not bad.

McCoy: Karl Urban - He was great in "Lord of the Rings", even if the part didn't call for much range. Have no idea if he has the droll comic chops to pull the "Dammit, Jim. I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer" lines (if they're even being used by J.J. Abrams). Not too bad.

Scotty: Simon Pegg - Loved Pegg in "Shaun of the Dead". "Hot Fuzz" is in my Netflix queue. British, but can pass as a credible Scotsman. As far as I'm concerned, the best in the cast. Will probably be under utilized, though.

Sulu: John Cho - I remember him from "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle". Good enough.

Uhura: Zoe Saldana - Never seen her before. Will Abrams upgrade the role beyond a glorified telephone operator? OK, I guess.

Chekov: Anton Yelchin - an honest to goodness Russkie. Bit of a baby face, though. Eh.

Overall - considering I think the project itself is ill-conceived anyway, I think they did OK. The most weight is obviously on the shoulders of Pine. How do you live up to the legend that is Bill Shatner?

Discuss.

Highly Dubious Yip! from Robbo: I'm hardly a "Trekkie", but to the extent I am, I'm very Old School (although I saw one of those remastered episodes of TOS the other evening, and it was not nearly as obnoxious as I feared. I might even like it.) Anyhoo, I smell disaster here. And Chris Pine? He looks like Rob Lowe before the eyebrow plucks. If this is the history of Kirk, then God help the Federation.