Star Trek - A Review

I absolutely LOVED Star Trek.

There. Review completed.

This is a film that I believe is very hard not to love. It is how a reboot should be made and I think that on some level, it is also how a sequel should be made.

Endearing characters masterfully played, excellent and compelling story that both link to the original material AND begins anew, jaw-dropping, gorgeous special effects, mindboggling sounds and music, it is even Oscar-contending material to some degree. A movie hasn’t come this close to perfection in years, if not decades.

Star Trek is an origin story from start to finish. It shows us how the original crew of the star ship Enterprise came together through an event that also changed the course of the timeline that all trekkers and trekkies have grown to know and love.

Like the tagline says, “forget all that you know”… to a certain point. This is still Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov and Scotty we’re talking about.

I had some reservations about the casting when I first started reading about Abrams’ version of Star Trek. I didn’t know most of these actors, except for John Cho and Karl Urban. My fears, as they were, have been put to rest. I can’t see another film in this series without these actors and if they ever start another television series, I don’t think it could be successful without these same people.

Chris Pine as Kirk was perfect. He is cocky, impulsive, and charismatic. Pine plays Kirk very well. He gets a beating in Star Trek though. Talk about trial by fire. Wow. I used to be a Picard worshipper myself but after this my faith is shaken. Young Kirk makes an awesome Captain (thanks to some great writing of course).

Zach Quinto had some rather large shoes to fill. Leonard Nimoy IS Spock. But Quinto does an admirable job in the role, his physical resemblance to the character being a great help. I honestly had a problem in seeing someone other than Sylar on screen. Emotionless, with a few bouts of extreme aggressive behaviour…

Karl Urban seemed possessed by the ghost of Deforest Kelley. He was channelling the actors’ portrayal to near perfection, from the awesome control of the particular speech pattern of Bones (no small feat; Urban has a thick New-Zealand accent in real life) to the little eye twitch the character always had. He makes Robert Downey Jr’s performance in Tropic Thunder look like a bad theatre rehearsal. Every scene Urban is in, he steals it. I had chills.

Zoë Seldana plays Uhura competently but since the character was never predominant in most episodes of the original show, here the material the actress is given mostly serves to flesh out the character. She is still the Uhura we know and love. She is tough, self-assured and extremely competent. In Star Trek she serves as the love interest of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named-To-Avoid-A-Major-Spoiler and for support to Kirk when he needs it the most (so yeah, it’s not Kirk).

John Cho is pretty good as Sulu although maybe a bit underused. I have a feeling some of his scenes are going to be on the DVD as deleted ones. I wanted to see more of him, especially since he is in one of the more entertaining scenes in Star trek…

Anton Yelchin plays Chekov and the v/w + rolling R factor to hilarious effect. He plays the character with innocence and with a natural self-confidence. This works very well. He is a very effective comic-relief in the film.

Simon Pegg as Scotty? An Englishman as a Scott? What? He is Simon Pegg with a Scottish accent. If you like the actor you will probably love the character. A pretty good but surprising casting choice.

Rounding out the cast is Eric Bana as the main and forgettable villain Nero. His antics only serve as a pretext for the crew of the Enterprise to get together and work as a team. He’s violent and crazy but Bana is no Ricardo Montalban… We also have Wynona Rider, Rachel Nichols (totally hot, can’t wait to see her in GI Joe), Ben Cross as Sarek (Spock’s father) and… Well… Go see the movie…

Orci and Kurtzman have expertly managed to write a complex story that is understandable to the neophyte while keeping the same Star Trek feel and adding much more action and tense moment. I have a feeling this is what Nemesis tried to do but only achieved epic failure.

Star Trek is a reboot/prequel hybrid; much like Brian Singer’s Superman was a reboot/sequel (the latter failed miserably where the former will undoubtedly succeed). The way the plot is constructed, they managed to expand on the Star Trek universe while at the same time hitting a reset button but without completely wiping out what we have known and loved about this world for over forty years. In other words, if the film succeeds, the producers can take the franchise in another direction if they so wish. If it fails, it becomes a great addition to Gene Roddenberry’s legacy and the franchise can now rest in peace, knowing it didn’t end with Nemesis…

To the acting and the story add some of the best special effects ever seen in a Hollywood movie, sounds that will blow your mind from the hum of the Enterprise’s engines to the familiar but updated phaser fire noise and the great music, and we are presented with one if not the best work of American cinematography of the year so far.

It is well worth the high price of admission, including snacks. Go see it.

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9.5/10