Star Trek
After nearly seven years of cinematic absence and an even longer period of trying to live up to the scope and scale of its early predecessors, the Star Trek franchise finally makes a triumphant return to the big screen with its identity intact. The thanks needs to be passed around, but a sizable chunk is owed to director JJ Abrams for delivering this boisterous ode to Gene Roddenberry's sci-fi saga with such joyful precision. This is the original 1960s series with a bold and exciting 21st century facelift courtesy of a strong cast and cinema's own considerable technological advancements. The movie is not without its flaws, but it captures the spirit of Star Trek with enough imagination and wide-eyed enthusiasm to emerge victorious.
In a bid to reboot the franchise and start again essentially from scratch, this Trek goes back to the beginning to explore an alternative origin story for the initial crew of the beloved Starship Enterprise. All of the famous characters now encased in pop culture history have returned with a new cast to bring them back to life. And despite the big shoes to fill, the newcomers do surprising justice to Kirk, McCoy, Spock, Chekhov, Sulu, Uhura, and Scotty.
The most arguably challenging job goes to Chris Pine, who takes over the reins from pop icon William Shatner as the testosterone-fuelled James T. Kirk. Shatner's performances and mannerisms are legendary and have been spoofed countless times, making a dramatically central (and only mildly comedic) take on the Kirk character a rather difficult thing to pull off. Pine has to make the role his own, while resisting the temptation to do an overblown impersonation. Pine succeeds quite admirably and he ensures that Kirk's transformation from brash, arrogant jerk to brash, arrogant hero is ripe with the necessary charisma.
Pine may have the toughest job in the whole cast, but everyone else rises to the occasion as well, wearing their roles comfortably and with a respect for the original cast. Even Zachary Quinto (whose day job as brooding villain Sylar on television series Heroes is an exercise in lazy acting) proves to be the right man for the job as the almost emotionless Spock. Quinto has his work cut out for him, since original Spock portrayer Leonard Nimoy makes a potent cameo appearance in this new Star Trek adventure.
Nimoy's involvement is made possible due to a time travel plot that also flings the doors wide open for the future of the franchise. This Star Trek is a tale of the Enterprise's maiden voyage, but the inclusion of some nasty black holes in space allows for the creation of an alternate reality. This smart and crafty bit of writing is credited to Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who seem greatly inspired by Roddenberry's universe. Kurtzman and Orci are much more at home with this material than with the clunky and awkward silliness they helped create with their script for the first Transformers movie.
Beyond the cast and the script, this Star Trek receives a bounty of aid from the visual and aural designers. The Enterprise sets glow with an electric energy and the sound work is an astonishing mixture of eerie silence and shattering, bone-crunching clamour. Some noises are instantly recognizable (such as the Enterprise's emergency alarm), while other aspects of the Trek world (such as the Enterprise's launch into warp speed) have been expertly updated. It would also be remiss of me not to mention the supreme score by genius composer Michael Giacchino, who amazes me each week with his music on television's Lost. Giacchino pays tribute to the original theme, while forming an excellent companion piece for this particular Trek tale.
The movie does stumble in the villain department, since angry Romulan Nero (Eric Bana, sitting back and letting the makeup do the work) is neither scary nor interesting. Nero has a somewhat sympathetic back-story and good reason to be angry, but his limited screen time and Bana's weak performance make him a dull and forgettable bad guy. The lack of an engaging villain hurts this Star Trek, since the overall conflict is disappointingly one-sided. Such a strong cast of heroes could greatly benefit from a worthy foe, but these heroes are forced to bear the dramatic weight all on their own.
Despite its imperfections, this Star Trek reboot is still one of the best movies the franchise has to offer. It provides a few laughs, a handful of entertaining action sequences, and a new and promising direction for this resurrected series. With its ties to the franchise's beginnings, this movie works as both an homage to Roddenberry's creation and an encouragingly fresh start. JJ Abrams and his impressive cast and crew have given us a Trek that reminds us of the past, while boldly looking toward the future.
