STAR TREK: The Starstoreblog review of JJ Abrams’ blockbuster movie
Wow. It’s been out a little while now, and I was a few days behind the rest of the staff in seeing the new Star Trek film, but I saw it yesterday and am still trying to compute what I saw onscreen. It’s kind of a ‘Did I really see that? moment. Everyone I’ve spoken to that has seen it has loved it, so I walked in there with expectations higher than they already had been. The outcome? I was amazed. The new Star Trek film is a beautiful way to kickstart another incarnation of the franchise, yet with characters everyone is already familiar with.
Okay, the film in itself is wonderful, but as a calculated reboot of the Star Trek movie franchise, it is a work of genius. The cast, despite the reservations that I and many others had before seeing it, are glorious throughout. They have captured the essence of the iconic Star Trek characters rather than impersonating the people that played them. Granted, Karl Urban is spot on with his mimickery of DeForest Kelley (not to mention perfectly creating his own version of Bones), but for the most part the resemblance to the originals is mostly cursory.
Something I really liked was the new approach to Spock. Giving him more of a troubled personality and more of a visible struggle with his heritage works extremely well. Chris Pine is a revelation as James T kirk. I have to admit it was Pine that I had the most worries about when walking into this film. Would he be any good at all in following William Shatner? Yes. Yes he would. Pine is great as the cocky, swaggering young Kirk, but for all the bluster and bravado, there’s the beginnings of greatness that we all know is to follow. It is a remarkable performance from an actor who is sure to be a big screen fixture for a long time to come.
It did amuse me somewhat that Simon Pegg, who you don’t see in the film for well over an hour, is billed first in the credits, but that’s down to me having been a Pegg fanboy since Spaced. His Scotty is a joy. Scotty is funny, yes, but he is also clearly a genius at what he does. It is a great strength of this film that there is a great deal of humour to be enjoyed amidst the intergalactic action and the creation of an alternate Star Trek universe. I loved the fact that they have not tried to say that this is how the original Star Trek came about. This is a vibrant and powerful mixture of old icons with new ideas, and Leonard Nimoy’s appearance in the movie is a most welcome link between the two versions of this wonderful franchise.
Eric Bana is electrifying as villain Nero, putting in a superb performance as the deranged bad guy, but Nero is also where the film suffers a little. His ship, his motivation and the whole design aesthetic surrounding him reminded me very much of Star Trek: Nemesis and its villain Shinzon. Granted, both involved Romulans, but the similarities were rather noticeable. Then again, nobody but the core of Trek fans really remembers what went on in that film anyway, so I think they got away with it.
This is the best Star Trek film in years, and it is also the best possible film that could have been made to relaunch the Star Trek universe for a new (Next?) generation. I loved every minute of it, and the highest praise must surely be that I really, really want to see it again. And again.
10/10
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