moviereview - Star Trek

moviereview

STAR TREK

	Raw recruits aboard the USS Enterprise get a sharp lesson in space travel when a renegade Romulan attacks planet Vulcan. Newly promoted Captain James T. Kirk attempts to save the day.	score 4	moviereview rates films from 1 (unwatchable) to 5 (unmissable)
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Cast
Christopher Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Bruce Greenwood, Winona Ryder, Eric Bana

Director
J.J. Abrams

Screenwriter
Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman

Country
USA

Rating / Running Time
M / 126 minutes

Australian Release
May 2009

Official Site

43 years after James T. Kirk first boarded the USS Enterprise, he’s at it again. Valiantly attempting to reboot the genre, effectively going where so many have gone before, J.J. Abrams and writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Mission: Impossible 3) turn back time. It is extraordinarily audacious, resetting the entire Star Trek franchise (ten films, five TV series, countless books, games and a universe of devotees who’ll cut you to size like a Klingon eating breakfast), yet with a wink and a nod they do exactly that. The results are quite exceptional.

Time is the lynchpin in a story that starts with the death of Kirk’s father at the hands of Nero, a renegade Romulan who holds his unborn son’s best friend responsible. Yet rather than get consumed with the paradox of space-time continuums, the story keeps its gaze on the emerging friendships of key crew aboard the newly minted Enterprise. This is the heart as pugilistic Kirk faces down the archly superior Spock in some of the film’s best scenes, full of flair, passion and man-love. Corn is kept in check as McCoy, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov and comedy engineer Scotty (Simon Pegg) assume their positions. Suspense is delivered by psychopathic Nero as he eliminates planet Vulcan, puts The Federation next on his things-to-destroy list then buggers about with space-time to bring Spock back from the future. There’s no downtime.

However there is plenty of opportunity for Star Trek to fall off the rails at warp speed. After all, Abrams produced TV’s Lost, a classic case of purpose imitating title. Here the balance is near perfect with hoary and hokey excised long before filming commenced. Tongues are kept in cheek as emotion runs high in an exhilarating ride that ticks all the boxes in light-speed pursuit of blockbuster glory. Fans and newcomers alike will appreciate a film that remains true to its universe yet is clever enough to escape its shackles. We appreciate the human need to get things right and the emotional discord it produces. Most of all we appreciate a film that recaptures the irreverence and boyish zeal of a TV series decades past. This is Star Trek the way we hoped it would be.

// COLIN FRASER