Different people will be coming at this film from different perspectives. I come at it as a fan of the original series. To call myself a Trekkie might not be accurate, but to deny you're a Trekkie always makes people convinced that you are a Trekkie so what is the point. Live long and prosper. I've seen all the STAR TREK feature films featuring the full original cast. I have never seen an episode of any of the spinoff series or the features based on the NEXT GENERATION. I was always more of a STAR WARS geek. So that's my point of view. I thoroughly enjoyed what J.J. Abrams has created with this prequel, sequel, reboot of the franchise. He's taken the characters from STAR TREK and added in the grandness of STAR WARS.
A giant Romulan spaceship attacks a federation ship. It's captain, Nero (Eric Bana, HULK), is looking for Spock. But Spock is a child at this time. Nero is from the future — a time where he blames an elderly Spock (Leonard Nimoy) for the destruction of his home planet of Romulus. In the battle between Nero and the federation ship, George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth, TV's HOME AND AWAY) saves hundreds of lives including those of his wife and newborn son James T. Kirk. Years later Kirk (Chris Pine, THE PRINCESS DIARIES 2) is a troublemaker in Iowa, getting in fights with Starfleet cadets. Capt. Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood, CAPOTE) challenges him to do better.
So Kirk joins Starfleet where he befriends divorced doctor Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban, LORD OF THE RINGS). He butts heads with the Vulcan Spock (Zachary Quinto, TV's HEROES), whose unbeatable training simulation only makes Kirk more determined. Kirk is also determined to get the first name of the beautiful cadet Uhura (Zoe Saldana, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN), who is a whiz at alien languages. A distress call comes from Vulcan. Kirk knows its Nero, setting a trap. While he remains in control of his emotions, Spock's human side worries about his father Sarek (Ben Cross, FIRST KNIGHT) and mother Amanda Grayson (Winona Ryder, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS).
While the allegory of the original series is replaced with bigger action (an element that some forget was a major part of the series, only on a 1960s TV scale), the characters are here. I have never seen Chris Pine in any of his previous work. He captures the brash side of James T. Kirk with confidence and humor. He becomes what a young James T. Kirk would be like. Quinto seems destined to play Spock. His uncanny similarity to Nimoy is just the start. For this film, we look into Spock's childhood. It wasn't easy being the son of a human mother. In his own Vulcan way, he's as rebellious as Kirk. So I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.
The script from Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman also takes time to bring in some of the other key original characters. Saldana's Uhura especially gets a first rate treatment as a far more valuable member of the crew than just the pretty girl in red with the thingy in her ear. "Bones" doesn't get a great deal of screen time, but Urban channels the off kilter quirks of DeForest Kelley's original character very well. Sulu (John Cho, HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE) isn't the perfect pilot he will become, but he's got those fencing skills. Anton Yelchin (TERMINATOR SALVATION) does a wonderful job of turning Pavel Chekov into a 17-year-old wunderkind. I've never liked Chekov more. And lets not forget Scotty the teleportation expert. Simon Pegg is more comic relief than I remember James Doohan being, but he nails the "I'm givin' it all she's got, Cap'in" attitude.
While this film is more interested in defining the core characters for a new generation than lofty ideas about race relations or war, the film does play with science. I liked Abrams sound choices when people get sucked out into space. And the film's use of time travel and its paradoxes is a perfect move for the discerning Trekkie. By bringing the aged Nimoy Spock into an alternative past, the film clears the way for the new Kirk and Spock, while keeping the past 40 years of STAR TREK history in tact. Isn't it fitting that Spock would be the witness for a time that was, but will now never be?
Those expecting big ideas will be disappointed. But was STAR TREK always about big ideas? "Trouble with Tribbles" people. This new film takes a wide view of the series. It captures the characters very well, while playing with their personalities a bit. Spock is more human here than he's ever been before. It brings the space opera elements to a grand modern cinematic realm, which never really happened in the features before. The silly humor is there too. It even throws in some science.
Just like CASINO ROYALE did for James Bond, J.J. Abrams' STAR TREK has opened up grand possibilities for an aging franchise. I look forward to seeing where they take the characters we have loved for so long. It's like seeing home videos of old friends when they were young and seeing them in a new light. It's that new perspective that is so fresh and exciting. I look forward to seeing this new Kirk and Spock deal with Klingons and Spock's brain and cities on the edge of forever. How will things be the same and how will things be different? STAR TREK has never felt so grand and personal at the same time. With new visual effects and reintroducing the characters on the start of their journey, STAR TREK feels fresh. Lets hope that STAR TREK 2 remembers that you can say something and be cool at the same time. That's why the best of the original series still seems fresh today.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
