Plot Kirk (Pine) runs wild after his dad dies on the Starship Kelvin. Vulcan Spock (Quinto) is an outsider because of his human mother. Both end up at Starfleet Academy, where they clash — can a futuristic threat unite them?
Review According to recently discovered 23rd-century history, James Tiberius Kirk was literally born of battle — the last fight he ever backed away from was the one he was delivered into. In purely Darwinian terms though, Jeffrey Jacob Abrams was forged by a 21st-century crucible far more unforgiving than a field of photon torpedoes: network television — not HBO, television.
Two movies in to what promises to be a storied career and the 42 year-old director has yet to find any gear but fifth. It’s as if his apprenticeship pacifying the ADD generation has inculcated a native fear of flipping. The heart-stopping second act of Abrams’ underrated M:I-III is a real-time mercy dash that would even leave Bourne breathless. For his latest mission impossible, Abrams sustains this improbable pace for even longer: Star Trek — yes, your dad’s Star Trek — moves like a racehorse that’s just been force-fed dilithium crystals.
Advance word that Abrams’ franchise reboot would witness fulfilment of the near-mythical Starfleet Academy project proves misplaced. The director and his Trekkie-credentialed writers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, are so impatient to pitch their neophyte crew into full-blown battle that the Academy years are largely covered by a single title card — “Three Years Later”. Phasers permanently set on stun are not much fun, after all.
From the moment ‘Bones’ McCoy comically smuggles an academically suspended Kirk onto Captain Pike’s U.S.S. Enterprise, Star Trek XI hits warp factor IX and, save for an obligatory sojourn with Spock senior, maintains a velocity that would give Scotty night terrors. This is perhaps NCC-1701’s most radical refit yet — for the first time in the franchise, the Enterprise is a genuine thrill-ride.
Not that the crew are just along for the V-necks. Abrams can do character on the run and the plot deftly deals in decent-sized roles for all of the famous seven. Karl Urban’s gruff McCoy and Zachary Quinto’s piercing Spock stand out, and despite internet rumbling, Chris Pine is also absolutely fine. Of course, as you might expect, the acting mostly requires shouting declarative Trekbabble or wedging witticisms between set-pieces, but both Bruce Greenwood’s stoic Captain Pike and Eric Bana’s wounded Nero forage earthier notes amid the SFX sheen.
That Trek weakness for warping plotlines does bring the usual convolutions, but whenever the Vulcan side of your brain is tempted to pose frequently asked questions about time travel, the breakneck pace drags you forward through the movie’s own brisk running time. On the downside, Abrams is not quite able to apply the brakes in time for the third act, which prematurely climaxes before you have time to drink it in. Kirk has a nice Indy moment and the Enterprise does a good impression of the Millennium Falcon in the Battle Of Yavin, but Spock’s dogfight with a drill is unlikely to enter Starfleet legend — what is pointy ears doing flying anything? — and Bana’s Nero deserved at least one villain’s mulligan.
Those hoping for a battle of wits to equal Kirk and Khan — or for hardcore Trekkers, to rival the Balance Of Terror episode that introduced the Romulans — will be left wanting. This is a Sulu-sized miscalculation. The Enterprise is a handsome ship, as evidenced by the hero shot Abrams gives her in the rings of Saturn (let’s call it the screensaver), but she was built for games of Battleship, not Asteroids.
Indeed, where XI ultimately falls short of the very best Trek, or indeed of all great science-fiction since Jules Verne, is in its want of big ideas. As a MacGuffin the movie boasts red matter — like a massive snooker ball, only deadlier — but it doesn’t find enough time to showcase the grey variety.
Very much like its dynamic young cast, this Trek is physical and emotional, sexy and vital even, but it is not cerebral. The movie is not exactly empty-headed; indeed it has some smarts, but it doesn’t live up to the high-mindedness that was part of Gene Roddenberry’s original mission statement.
Where overarching themes can be discerned, they primarily relate to the nature of friendship and teamwork, which is all very well, but it’s a grunt’s eye view of battle. Even a captain would appreciate the importance of battlefield tactics and how they intersect with military strategy and, ultimately, political vision.
For anyone who has endured the longueurs of both the Star Wars prequels and Matrix sequels, the distinct lack of politicking and speechifying will doubtless come as a blessed relief, but in a time when the United States is engaged in two wars, the failure to even acknowledge the issues arising from space imperialism and the Prime Directive is to flinch from battle. Harsher critics may even deem it a dereliction of duty. Season three of the rebooted Battlestar Galactica turned half its cast into Iraqi-style insurgents — and that was on television.
Ultimately, any boldness one can attach to the going here really belongs to the rescue of the Trek franchise from cultural irrelevance. This is a not insignificant achievement. As Abrams has noted himself, making 45 year-old tricorders desirable for the iPhone generation is a hell of a tough gig. Doing this while simultaneously pandering to the doctorates in Klingon is a task of Herculean, nay Sisyphean, proportions.
But Abrams and his crew pull it off. Save for the typically muddy motives of the modern bad guy — oh, for a truly Evil Empire — there is nothing much to confuse the multiplex masses, while there are plenty of in-jokes and visual details for the forum-dwellers to chew over. More to the point, the film is sassy, young and hip in a way the franchise has not been since the ’60s. It’s neither The Hills in space nor fan fiction with a $150 million budget. Kudos is due.
There will, of course, be some disquiet from the faithful, and not just because Kirk’s birth is yucky and his besting of Kobayashi Maru comes off as cocky. Fans of the TV show will note planet-sized deviations from accepted Trek lore. To excuse their creative licence, writers Orci and Kurtzman have Uhura explain that Nero’s time-travelling misdemeanours has fashioned an “alternate reality”. It’s a nifty enough trick often used on the show, but what will really bamboozle the keepers of the canon is that unlike the many episodes that dabbled in fractured timelines, there’s no smallscreen amnesia to put things back in place for next week. The franchise has been permanently shifted to new rails: this is a world where Kirk doesn’t grow up to look like William Shatner. Trekkies had better get used to it. Welcome to the new ’verse.
The fanbase placated and a brand-new generation blooded, there is undoubtedly even better to come. The characters feel thin right now, not just because of the limited range of the new cast, but because ultimately they are characters playing characters, actors imitating icons. Once the new Enterprise crew are established in their own right and the franchise freed of all that expectation, the characters should start to feel properly human again — or at least, half-human.
Verdict Odd-number curse be gone. The most exhilarating Trek to date marks a new future for Kirk and co. If this can boldly go on to seek out ideas to match its speed and style, a franchise is reborn.
hed on DVD tonight and it is simply a cracking film. t="trebuchet ms"]
r long term fans and newcomers alike, the essence of Trek is nailed.t="trebuchet ms"]
the Klingons. ... Read More
this isnt only the best sci fi film ive ever seen, its better than the last starwars film
and i cant believe it, well done ive been converted... IM A TREKKIE ... Read More
Director J.J. Abrams (of “LOST” and “Cloverfield” fame), brings to life a series formerly enjoyed only by a cult following known as “Trekkies.” Abrams brings the corny TV show “Star Trek” to life not with one bang, but many.
Of the 11 films previous to the 2009 movie, none give an origin story for the two main characters: Captain James T. Kirk, played by Chris Pine, and pointy-eared, half-human, half-Vulcan Spock, played by Zachary Quinto.
Ki... Read More
Fresh, Thrilling, Gripping, Exciting...the perfect example of a summer blockbuster
JJ Abrams is the man behind last years hit Cloverfield and perhaps one of the best shows on TV Lost. With this he has introduced the star trek franchise to a whole new generation of fans. I am not a trekkie in fact i have barely seen any trek all i know is what everyone knows. This film blew me away from the superb opening, great cast, fantastic direction for JJ and a real sense of fun, excitement and a franchise that in reinventing so to speak itself has set out a bright new future for itself. ... Read More
I just want to that this latest Star Trek movie is brilliant it really does capture everything about the original series so well. Chris Pine is brilliant as James T Kirk who I must say is brilliant so does Zachary Quinto as his first officer who battles with his emotions and the rest of the cast does a brilliant job as well. I loved the action sequences and the references to TOS it was funny when Scotty was in the water tubes. I just want to say that Star Trek is back and hats off to JJ Abrams ... Read More
The only bit I found amusing was when Uhura came on strong to Spock: "oh Spock... your planet, family, and 6 billion people have just been blown up, can I fuck you to make you feel better?" ... Read More
Best film this year, worthy of 5 stars. Really entertaining and well paced from start to finish. Loads of action but with pleny of good dialogue too, unlike Terminator salvation which seems to be loads of great action but not much talking, ... Read More
Really loved this movie - never been a big fan of Trek movies in the past, having been dragged to see previous ones with both original crew and Next Gen crew, however, this movie was great, and I would highly recommend this, even if you are Trek-phobic. Enjoyable, great action and engaging characters - even though they have been around for decades, the cast are great, making the roles their own, whilst nodding to the past?!?! ... Read More
Ok. I don't know if anybody else shares my opinion and I'm not arsed to read through 13 forum pages but personally I think Star Trek was fun well-made and acted but ultimately mediocre and imo a little surfacey and superficial. I'm not a fan of Star Trek but when I went into this movie I expected something quirky and inventive like some of the premises for episodes i've seen and I was left dissapointed. Bar the black hole ship I felt this was very safe hollywood fodder (abeit well made). Not i... Read More
I'm not a Trekkie, but have seen the first 4 films and some of the TV series, so am fully aware of the characters. This film was exciting, had a great story, brilliantly realised characters, superb effects that did not over power the film and was exciting till the end. A brilliant kick star to a floundering franchise! ... Read More
Classic
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Tragic
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