Film Review: ‘Star Trek’ – 7.5/10

Note – I am reposting this here and now as I have made numerous changes. Which is why I knew it was a bad idea to post a review only a single day after having seen a movie, seeing as it had not ripened in my mind yet.

Star Trek (2009)
Written by Joé McKen on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 (last update: 10/17/09)

The new, redesigned Starship Enterprise is ready for action in J.J Abrams’ 2009 reboot, Star Trek.

So, I finally decided to snap out of my film review-writing lethargy for a moment (or perhaps longer) to review a film I have arguably waited far too long to see (says the guy who hasn’t seen half the pop culture films he ought to). I’m talking about Star Trek, the new revision-slash-reboot of the only cultural icon to eclipse the Star Wars franchise.

7.5/10 James T. Kirk: Chris Pine Spock: Zachary Quinto Nero: Eric Bana Capt. Christopher Pike: Bruce Greenwood Directed by J.J. Abrams. Written by Robert Orci and Alex Kirtzman; characters by Gene Roddenberry. Original score by Michael Giacchino. Running time: 127 mins. Rated PG-13.

I’d never even so much as seen more than five minutes of footage, total, from any of the previous series, from the original Gene Roddenberry creation to the later flops. Frankly, my knowledge of the Trekkie universe was (and largely still is) thus: “Vulcans!” “Beam me up, Scottie!” and “KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!”. And any number of absolutely incomprehensible sci-fi techno-lingo expressions I deign to remember. (Seriously, if you want unparalleled tongue-twisters, watch Star Trek when they get all sciency.)

It’s therefore with a slight amount of hesitation that I decided to watch this film. How user-friendly was it to non-Trekkies? Would anyone but fans and connoisseurs be able to tell what the hell was happening, or who was who? Thankfully, the film quickly assuaged my doubts from the very first few scenes. Not that much of anything is really explained in detail; it just requires you to listen to possess some minimal clue of sci-fi terms, and to pay attention to what is being said and done, and you’ll catch on real fast. Most of the futuristic technology and science mentioned or used is either self-explanatory, or irrelevant, so either way, you don’t have to fear about being left behind.

The story follows the early years of the crew of the original Starship Enterprise, particularly focusing its attentions on future captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), and (who else?) Spock (Zachary Quinto). We see Kirk grow into a rebellious, courageous (and a bit foolhardy) young man with tons of potential yet none of the ambition to get anywhere. This changes after a chance meeting with Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) instills in him a drive to actually do something with his life rather than be that pictorial rebel without a cause, and he joins Starfleet Academy. A young Spock, meanwhile, battles with his heritage as half-Vulcan and half-human, trying to decide whether that decidedly human emotionality should be a good thing, or a characteristic that warrants repression.

Skip to a few years later, and after a bit of a mishap for Kirk which lands him in trouble (it turns out that cheating during an examination, however well-reasoned, is generally not a good idea), Starfleet suddenly gets a distress signal from planet Vulcan; something about a “lightening storm in space”. Which sounds terrifyingly familiar to Kirk, seeing as such an event was exactly what happened just moments before the starship carrying his father was lost in a sudden Romulan attack, right at the moment of Kirk’s birth. His dire warnings are soon proven correct, as the Enterprise arrives at the scene just in time to avoid crashing into exploded Starfleet vessels, eradicated by the single, massive and highly-advanced Romulan ship floating nearby and looking very much like some sort of metallic crustacean from Hell.

These scenes in space bring out the true marvel that are the special effects and computer wizardry present in this film; I hate to admit it (or do I love it?), but these effects are becoming so advanced that at times, it becomes simply impossible to distinguish between computer imagery, and reality. It was obvious from the get-go, this being a sci-fi flick set in the reaches of space, that f/x play a prominent role in the film, but even still, seeing scenes of fantasy as well executed as the ones in this film are always a major treat. (Hell, I’m the kind of guy who would suffer through Transformers 2 just to admire the f/x. Which I did.)

One particularly fine sequence illustrating this lust for computer generated beauty and realism would definitely be the first glorious reveal of the Enterprise, that massive, beautiful spacecraft (architecturally, that is), which actually brought tears to the eyes of someone I know (who shall not be named for the reason that guys can’t be seen crying). Unfortunately, my having seen the film on a computer monitor in less-than-DVD quality arguably took most of the visual nirvana away from my viewing experience, but it was still a very beautiful shot that should definitely give more than one Trekkie some serious heart palpitations.

Anyway, I seem to be dragging my metaphorical feet here. We meet the crew, most (if not all) of whom are incarnations of the same characters known and loved from the first Star Trek series, which again is guaranteed to plaster large, fond, nostalgic smiles on the faces of fans around the world. Which actually makes me feel slightly left-out. Ah well; hopefully, these portrayals are relatively accurate to the originals, so I can have some rudimentary idea of what life aboard the Enterprise was like.

And yes, it has indeed struck me as depressing that much of my review is along the lines of “If only I’d been a fan of the series so that I could recognize and appreciate the finer aspects and details of this film”, rather than a general review of the film itself.

Anyway. From this point on, the plot carries on in true space opera fashion: good guys meet bad guys, spectacular space-battles ensue, main character turns rebel and is cast aside to form his own plans for justice and saving his friends’ lives, key revelations are made that change everything we (or rather, the characters) believe in, all leading up to the climax, which is about as spectacular as a sci-fi plot’s apex gets, I reckon. Although, maybe it’s just because I’m a hopeless pedant for accuracy, but the sheer amount of physical and scientific impossibilities encountered during these chaotic sequences are a bit of a drag. For example, the day that a black hole looks like a vortex in space with lightening and winds, is the day that our reality has itself become a sci-fi flick.

That’s about is as far as plot-related details go for this review. Any more and I might as well reveal all those juicy spoilers, which is certainly beneath me. As if I could ever ruin the non-surprise of Leonard Nimoy playing an old, wise and very human Spock stuck on an ice planet. Or that Vulcan is destroyed on-screen by (one of the aforementioned horrible renditions of) a black hole. Pfft.

I’ve never been a science fiction buff, and such sagas as Star Trek and the innumerable sci-fi series on TV simply do not draw me in all that well, usually. But this was certainly a very decent movie, and I did enjoy my time spent watching it, for the quirky bits of humor, for the intrigue, for the “science” (or lack thereof) and outlandish technology, and … because I had nothing else to do. Though, I suppose that, most of all, I just wanted to finally get acquainted with one of the giants of pop culture and television history. I cannot know whether this film lives up to the spirit of the previous series or films, but regardless, I do remind myself that such criteria are not what interests me in a film, anyway. All that matters is whether the film itself was enjoyable and entertaining, which this was. Which is all I need for a genial recommendation.

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