TV & Movies

Star Trek is everything I could have hoped for, and possibly more. It is a fast paced and exciting movie and yet takes the time to show great respect to its heritage. I will be extremely surprised, and disappointed, if this is not the most successful film, this year. Here is my review, as spoiler free as I could make it.

Follow up:

This week I got a call from Andrew, asking if I was interested in tickets to a special pre-screening of the new Star Trek film. What a question! I was raised on Star Trek. I have a very clear memory of watching it when I was four years old and asking when it was set. When would it happen, for real? I remember my dad saying that it was more than a hundred years in the future, maybe two hundred. I remember being angry about that. It wasn't fair! I wanted it to be in my lifetime. I wanted to work on the U.S.S. Enterprise. It was at that point that I decided I would work for NASA. I would do what I could to accelerate that timeline. Star Trek was my foundation. I can tie many of my morals and values to the lessons Star Trek taught. It certainly influenced me more than my years at Catholic school. Star Trek made me want to be as brave as Captain Kirk, as intelligent as Mr. Spock, as kind as Dr. McCoy, as industrious as Scotty. Those characters became the voices or conscience in my head. W.W.K.D? What would Kirk do?

I have every episode and movie on DVD. I have maybe 200 Star Trek novels. Yet, when news first started to come out about the new film, I had trepidation. New young actors playing these beloved roles?!! Star Trek 90210?!! What were they doing? Little by little it started to look more credible. The first time I saw Zachary Quinto, on Heroes, I thought - he would make a great Spock! Little bits of footage and imagery started to come out. The ship looked good. The special effects looked good. Spock looked like Spock. Bones looked like Bones. They were wearing the classic uniforms! But - oh no! Who is this kid playing Captain James T. Kirk?! He looks so young, he can't possibly have the presence that William Shatner imbued Kirk with!

On that I was wrong. Chris Pine is utterly convincing as James T. Kirk. A younger, less mature, more rebellious James Kirk. But, put in the command chair on the bridge of the Enterprise - he is Kirk. The writers and Chris Pine have done an excellent job envisioning what a younger Kirk would be like. While the Kirk in his 30s will be a ladies man that doesn't have to go after the women, they come to him, this Kirk doesn't yet have that patience or confidence. He hasn't yet had to bear the responsibility of having 436 people's lives depend on his decisions, each and every day. His eyes notice every attractive woman on the ship. While the older Kirk has experience and a reputation that leads others to defer to his command, this Kirk has to earn that respect. And he does.

By now, most everyone that plans on seeing this film is familiar with the basics of the story. A natural phenomenon has destroyed the planet Romulus, a few years after the events of the Star Trek: The Next Generation films. Spock, as we last saw in a two part episode of ST:TNG called "Reunification", is an ambassador, for Vulcan, on Romulus. Spock tried to save Romulus, but failed. He, and a Romulan ship, captained by Nero (Eric Bana), are caught in a singularity and thrown back through time. Nero, mad with rage over losing his planet and family, blames Spock and the Federation. He is hellbent on destroying the Federation, in the past, to hopefully save Romulus, in the future. His actions affect the time-line, essentially creating an alternate reality time-line. It is this alternate reality in which the story takes place. All of these events I've just described are told as a prologue in the comic book mini-series called Star Trek: Countdown, which is reviewed on this site.

Eric Bana does a good job, as Nero, but although Nero is the villain of the film, the film isn't about him, so he doesn't get a lot of screen time. The film is about putting together the crew of the Enterprise.

The movie opens with an intense battle between Nero's ship and the U.S.S. Kelvin, twenty-five years ago. Some of these scenes have been seen in the trailers. It is an awesome and enveloping experience on the big screen. The cinematography in this film is an absolute delight. Although never jerky, the camera rarely stands still. The movements maintain a sense of a action and often depict the moods of scenes.

As everyone also likely knows, Leonard Nimoy does appear in this film, as the older Spock. His appearance is no mere cameo - he is integral to the story and has some great lines.

Because of the roller coaster pace of the film, the audience spends a lot of time leaning forward and holding their breath. To break the tension the film has well placed comic relief. This comic relief comes from Chekov and Scotty. All seven of the ensemble crew get their time to shine and all seven felt true as their characters.

The supporting cast provides strong performances, too. Bruce Greenwood is perfectly cast as Captain Christopher Pike. Casual fines are likely not familiar with the character of Christopher Pike. He appeared in two places, in the original 1960s series. He was the Captain of the Enterprise in the original Star Trek pilot, called "The Cage" and then in a two part episode called "The Menagerie" that utilized footage from the never shown pilot. We know, from "The Menagerie" that Captain Pike was the captain of the Enterprise before Captain Kirk and that Spock served with him. In this film Pike plays an important role both in the core story and in the development of James Kirk.

The film is flush with easter eggs that the serious fan will relish. Tiny references to characters and events from the Star Trek milieu. For example, we learn that Scotty is being punished for an event that involved Porthos, the beagle that belonged to Captain Archer, the captain from the prequel TV series Star Trek: Enterprise, played by Scott Bakula. We also finally get to find out how Kirk "cheated" on the Kobayashi Maru test at Starfleet Academy. Way back in 1982, in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, we learn that he did "cheat" because he refused to accept the idea of a no-win scenario, but we didn't learn how.

Although I won't say what they are, there are a couple of events that occur in the film that were quite surprising/shocking and quite significant. Events that will have the fan whispering "I can't believe they did that!" The scale of the film is epic, and yet simultaneously intimate.

J.J. Abrams (the director) has been doing press and saying that this film isn't really made for people like me. It's made for a new generation to introduce them to the wonderfully creative world of Star Trek. J.J. may not have intended the film for me, but he won me over. I love this film and plan to be in line, again, next Friday, at the official opening.