53) Star Trek

Star Trek (2009)

Director: J.J. Abrams

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Eric Bana, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Simon Pegg, Bruce Greenwood, Leonard Nimoy, Ben Cross, Winona Ryder

Kate was out this morning and we've got a busy afternoon and evening of social engagements I was keen to take it easy in the morning, so over breakfast I decided to watch something I knew I was going to enjoy and not have to think too much. Cue Star Trek.

Son of a storied Starfleet Captain who famously died in battle, James Kirk (Pine), brilliant but lacking direction, enlists in the Starfleet Academy. Over just a couple of years he shows himself to be very gifted, if a bit cocky. He creates quite a stir when he becomes the first cadet ever to pass the Kobayashi Maru Test, only to be accused of cheating by the setter of the test, Commander Spock (Quinto). When a distress signal is picked up from the planet Vulcan, Starfleet's promising young cadets are forced to crew the newly christened U.S.S. Enterprise in order to provide assistance. However they find the emergency is no natural disaster, but actually a Romulan attack. Using a weapon which creates black holes, the Romulans, led by Nero (Bana), destroy Vulcan and set their sights on Earth. It is up to this inexperienced team of cadets to band together and save the day if Earth is to survive.

While this is the 11th Star Trek film, it is not a chronological sequel to the previous ten. Rather what we have here is a franchise reboot. Abrams has taken us back to the beginning, to the original characters, to allow a new generation of fans to fall in love with Kirk, Spock, Bones, Uhura, Scotty, Sulu and Chekov. Obviously, rewriting a beloved mythology, especially one with fans as devoted to the point of obsession like Trekkies, has the potential to ruffle a few feathers. Fortunately a bit of clever thinking from the writers, Roberto Orti and Alex Kurtzman, have given them an easy out when they face the questions of disgruntled Trekkies at sci-fi conventions. In the opening scene of the film Nero's ship comes out of a black hole, having travelled back through time, thus when Nero attacks the U.S.S. Kelvin, killing Kirk's father, he changes history's chain of events and in the process changes the destinies of all of the film's characters (a fact which is explained to us by Spock) therefore giving the filmmakers license to deviate from the accepted Star Trek lore of the previous films. Very sneaky indeed.

I found the casting for this film interesting. Early on there was a lot of talk that the new Captain Kirk would be played by Matt Damon. I don't know if that fell through or if it was never any more than a rumour, but in the end the lead role when to Chris Pine. Chris who? Exactly. Pine leads a cast with surprisingly little star power or box office clout for what is obviously an attempt to boot up a big time blockbuster franchise. The biggest names in the cast are Bana (who's character seems unlikely to be an ongoing fixture in the franchise), Simon Pegg (decent profile, but not really a box office draw card, and only in a minor role) and John Cho, that guy from Harold and Kumar, the one who doesn't now work for the Obama administration. Zoe Saldana has a rising profile, but that is largely as a result of her role in Avatar, which had not come out when Star Trek was released. They've gone for a real ensemble feel rather than a star studded, Ocean's 11, type cast.

Oh, and just on casting, which bright spark thought it made sense to cast Winona Ryder as Spock's mother?! I found the sight of Ryder in old lady make up really off putting in what were supposed to be quite touching scenes.

I really loved the fact that Leonard Nimoy was in this film, and not just making a minor cameo, but actually playing an important role. I got a massive kick out of it, which is strange as I have not seen any of the original television series or any of the early movies, I was more of a Star Wars kid than a Star Trek kid, so I have no personal attachment to him as Spock. But none the less, I recognise that Nimoy as Spock is one of the iconic figures of the Star Trek franchise, much like the U.S.S. Enterprise (could you imagine the Trekkie backlash if they had remodelled the Enterprise for the reboot!), and I enjoyed that they payed homage to that fact.

One thing I could have done without was the real effort that went into establishing Kirk as a bit of a rebel without a cause early in the film. The bar room brawl I was fine with, no issues. What I didn't think really brought anything to the film was the earlier scene in which a 13 or 14 year old Kirk steals his step-father's vintage sports car and drives it off a cliff, just because he's cool. It was an unnecessary scene which just had a bit of a groan factor to it.

Star Trek is a really fun film. A wonderful piece of exciting, escapist, sci-fi, with some great action sequences, dazzling special effects and a sprinkling of humour. This is what 'high concept' blockbuster cinema should be; fun. J.J. Abrams is firing on all cylinders and has managed to turn Star Trek into a non-stop adrenaline rush. I'm assured that it is packed with little tidbits which reward the devoted Trekkie, but even if you are coming to it with with a blank slate, you can still really enjoy it.