Star Trek

(2009)

Short
This is officially the first great blockbuster of the summer. Great script writing and action direction make for one of the best Star Trek/Sci-fi/movies ever made. An entertaining plot and, more importantly, entertaining characters will keep you engaged from beginning to end. If these things are miraculously lost on you, then the visual effects are surly enough to keep you stimulated. The remake is just shy of perfect and does a great job paying homage to the original series. Without reservation, I say see it! No matter who you are or what types of movies you like, you’re sure to be entertained.

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Full

“Star Trek is for nerds.” That is likely the first statement you made when you saw the trailer (if you were not a Star Trek fan). Personally, I’ve seen all ten of the previous movies but was never a fan of the show; which I found out recently only ran for three seasons (with as popular as it is, I thought for sure it dominated television for longer than 79 episodes). But if you are a fan of good movies, then regardless of your past Star Trek affiliation, this is a must see. Great acting, great special effects, great characters, great script, great fun! If you are really concerned about catching subtle references made to the fans, then watch “Star Trek 2-4” of the old movies (it seems that all of the references come from these three movies and most of them coming just from the second one).

The plot
Nero (Bana), a member of the Romulan alien race, seeks revenge for the destruction of his planet. The target of his revenge: Spock, a member of the Vulcan alien race who live their lives through calculated, emotionless decisions. When Nero’s plan for revenge crosses with the Enterprise’s plan for galactic peace, the fight for the future begins. The crew of the Enterprise, consisting of the well known James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), will stop at nothing to stop Nero from using ‘red matter’, a weapon of mass destruction (literally), to consume whole worlds.

Reasons to see it
The movie is a time traveling gig. I know, I know. Time travel movies usually have so many problems that they often end up with major plot holes. Well such is not the case for this film. In fact, I would argue that the time travel idea was brilliant on JJ Abrams’ part. The idea here is not that going back in time to kill your father results in you disappearing in the present; it’s more along the lines that altering the past simply creates a parallel reality. I’ll say it again, brilliant. As much as many people will cry out that the industry should stop making Star Trek movies and just end on this good note, it is very unlikely. If a movie makes money these days, it is guaranteed to have a sequel, even if the sequel makes no sense (“Crank 2”). What the parallel reality concept allows JJ Abrams to do is to make “Star Trek” sequels that don’t have to adhere to the current plot lines of the universe. Ex. If McCoy dies at the age of 40 in the original universe (not true by the way), Abrams can just ignore that and keep McCoy alive until he’s 80 in this new universe. Get it? Abrams is essentially free to do whatever he wants with the story. Say it with me, brilliant!

Without giving away too much of the story—which is pretty much classic Star Trek (bad guy threatens the universe, enterprise fights them, bad guy blows up)—let me just say that it is nothing special. What makes the movie so great, is the characters and special effects. The latter is pretty obvious. You can see in the trailer that this movie has top notch computer animation and knows how to use it. But what you may have missed is that the cast of characters in this movie, especially the new take on Captain Kirk, work great together. There is almost no limit to how much each individual character entertains. This is only made better when they interact with each other. Two obvious characters of note are Kirk and Spock. Kirk is transformed from the cool, sure, conceptually reckless Shatner to a more blatantly reckless daredevil reminiscent of the Obi Wan of Episode II. Being a fan of extreme sports, I’m all about this new Kirk character. He keeps the story exciting and has a lot of great one-liners. As for Spock, though I was indeed a fan of the emotionless, calculated Leonard Nimoy, the new “human” Spock is much easier to relate to. If Keanu Reeves has taught us anything, it’s that emotionless characters are rarely enjoyed.

The Negatives
I have to admit, as much as it kills me, there are one or two scenes in the movie that borderline on juvenile. But with the PG film targeting a large audience, it makes sense that these scenes are present; so to grip about it probably isn’t appropriate.

In summary…
…I think this movie is a great bit of script writing that many other action/sci-fi movies should learn from. Abrams knew that special effects alone wouldn’t do the trick (“Terminator Salvation”), so he enlisted his tried and true friends Roberto and Alex (“M:I 3” and “Transformers”) to the task. The result, great movie with compelling characters.