It was disappointing to hear that Paramount was rebooting the Star Trek film series with a remake of the original series. I’d hoped for something more original like following the original captain of the Enterprise, Christopher Pike, or the murky first war with the Romulans. Instead, there would be a fresh young cast taking the roles of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and company. There went any interest I had in the project.
Then a funny thing happened, the clips released to the Internet actually looked… good. Snippets of scenes showed decent acting and writing. Disturbingly, I began to be interested. Then came the trailers and I was in trouble. The movie looked like it was worth spending money on seeing in a theater, something uncommon for me.
So I saw it and I liked it. A lot. But would it hold up after a second viewing? An incredibly cheap preorder deal at Target gave me that chance and so the answer is in the form of this review.
Star Trek begins with moody music from its rather excellent soundtrack composed by Michael Giacchino as a starship comes into view, the U.S.S. Kelvin. The ship is investigating an anomaly near the Klingon border when a gigantic squid-like ship emerges from it and promptly attacks. Right away the frenetic energy of the fight conveys the seriousness of the situation as the Federation ship is utterly overwhelmed by the mysterious attacker.
The stakes are made to feel high as one short sequence shows when a female crew member is sucked out of a hull breach and her corpse bounces off of a phaser turret in the silent vacuum of space. This film is playing for keeps and won’t shy away from a high body count.
Things go from bad to worse as the ship is hailed by their Romulan attackers and the captain ordered to surrender himself via shuttlecraft. As he complies, the captain of the Kelvin puts his First Officer in charge as acting captain – an officer named Kirk. What follows is dire as the crew of the Federation ship abandon ship during a second attack, leaving the newly minted Captain Kirk at the helm to protect the fleeing shuttlecraft. In one of them, his wife is giving birth to their son. Just before making the final sacrifice to save everyone, Kirk names his son Jim over the comm, preferring his father-in-law’s name to his own father’s, Tiberius. The opening credits and title roll from there.
The opening sequence is effect and action laden, but also highly emotional. The rest of Star Trek follows this pattern of mixing high spectacle with emotion. Underlying the story is the theme of loss and vengeance, affecting the three main characters of the story.
After the title, we are treated to glimpses of the childhoods of Kirk and Spock. First up is the stolen car sequence so prominently seen in the trailers. From it we see that the fatherless Jim Kirk is rebellious and resentful towards his stepfather while having little regard for the rule of law. From there we are taken to Vulcan, where an oppressive looking school setting introduces us to Spock and his maligned half-Vulcan half-human heritage. Years pass and Spock chooses to go to Starfleet Academy instead of the Vulcan Academy after being praised for overcoming his “handicap” of being half human. There is a hint of a rebellious streak in him as well. Not exactly the Spock we are used to seeing.
Yes, this movie is going to be different than the TV series.
Back on Earth (Iowa to be specific), Kirk is a young adult who manages to get himself in a bar fight after hitting on Starfleet cadet Uhura. After getting the snot beaten out of him and losing badly, Captain Christopher Pike makes his first appearance and suggests Kirk enlist in Starfleet. Why? Because he knew Kirk’s father as a man who didn’t believe in no win scenarios. The drunken young man refuses of course, but a motorcycle ride takes him past the nearby shipyard where a ship is being built. A ship that looks familiar.
Hey, we always knew Kirk’s only true love was the Enterprise, right?
Of course he enlists, meeting a newly and bitterly divorced doctor, Leonard McCoy. They become fast friends and we jump another three years into the future with them at the academy. We finally get to see the famous Kobiyashi Maru test that made Kirk a legend for being the only one to pass. Well, his “victory” leads to his being brought up on academic charges and before he can be drummed out of the academy an emergency message from Vulcan arrives. The planet is under attack and the bulk of the fleet is at another engagement. This means all the cadets have to report for emergency duty.
The fleet assembles and jumps to Vulcan with the Enterprise last. What greets them is horrific, beginning a chain of events that bring stogether the crew we all know from the original TV series. One familiar face eventually appears and all the pieces to the puzzle of what has been going on finally come together.
I thought the casting was excellent and all the actors in the major parts get a chance to shine:
Chris Pine turned out to be a lot of fun as James T. Kirk, who goes by Jim Kirk in this incarnation. Instead of doing a Willian Shatner impression, he plays Kirk as a loose cannon who invariably gets himself in trouble. He isn’t quite the womanizer of the original series, being younger and way too obvious to land every gal he sets his eyes on. There is a running sight gag about that tendency that never fails to amuse – especially his pursuit of Uhura.
Zachary Quinto’s Spock is very much like Leonard Nimoy’s but with a restrained anger always brewing just under the surface. His is a more emotional Spock searching for his place in the universe. The hostility between him and Kirk makes for a different dynamic than we are used to.
Stealing every scene he’s in, Karl Urban makes McCoy his by somehow being everything DeForest Kelley was and more. There is a irascible energy to his Bones that is a complete blast.
Zoe Saldana gives Uhura a dimension she never had in the show. Strong, competent, and wonderfully empathetic with one of the other characters, she is delightful.
Scotty is very different from what we are used to. Simon Pegg was given the part without reading for it and allowed to pretty much do what he wanted with it. His Montgomery Scott is gleeful and almost lunatic genius who loves excitement. In a way, he is the embodiment of a Trek fan loose on the set.
I couldn’t resist screencapping John Cho as Lt. Sulu with his sword in hand. Watching him go from being mortally embarrassed by a gaff at the helm to swashbuckling hero in short order was a treat for fans of the character. Cho handles both scenes with aplomb.
Anton Yelchin as 17 year old Ensign Chekov was endearing as the eager to please prodigy with the fearsome math skills. Watch his two transporter room scenes for some nice acting.
Being a fan of the original failed TV pilot, I always liked Captain Christopher Pike as a character. Bruce Greenwood does an excellent job playing an officer anyone would want to serve under.
I liked Eric Bana as Nero, despite recalling some negative reviews of his performance. There are some subtleties to Nero’s madness that I enjoyed, one being that he was a blue collar man, not an officer or a noble in the Romulan Empire. His personal tragedy drives the story and Nero is very much a Romulan Ahab obsessed with his white whale in the form of Spock.
Star Trek is a big film, best viewed on the big screen and barring that, a big TV. The effects by Industrial Lights and Magic are beautiful, both in the artistic and technical senses. Equally excellent are the sound effects which manage to be unique but familiar at the same time. It is a fast paced film that fills its two hour running time with plenty of character development and action, not an easy thing to pull off.
Final Verdict
I really enjoyed Star Trek the second time around and think it is a great movie that does considerable honor to the franchise. Well worth seeing.
Not recommended for all ages; there is considerable violence, cadets running around in their underwear in one scene, and at least one case of mild profanity.
The DVD
The transfer is flawless, only hampered by not being HD. I expect the BluRay version is spectacular on a large set. Surround sound is used to good effect and is clear.
The extras are the normal lot on a single disc release, with a commentary track featuring the director and producers, a bloopers real, and a making of featurette. The gag reel isn’t that noteworthy but the behind the scenes stuff is a lot of fun.
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