Category: Star Trek

No spoilers in post (pretty much mostly), but no promises about the comments. 

I’m going to avoid my standard movie review structure, since most of what I want to say was that this was a damned entertaining movie. It was highly reminiscent of The Original Series in that (a) it was action-oriented, (b) it paid more attention to the characters than the plot, which is good because (c) the plot (not to mention the science) does not bear close examination.

In fact, the plot is nearly irrelevant, as this is not about the Big Story (which is the same as the Big Story in 8 of the last 9 Star Trek movies, i.e., Big Powerful Bad Guy Threatens to Destroy Earth for Some Diabolical (or Inexplicable) Reason), but about the characters meeting and becoming a crew. 

The conceit around which the whole canon gets rebooted was reasonably plausible, if not convincing in its effects (unless one believes in a Theory of Contagion in which the intrusion into the past brings with it some mimetic elements that cause so many of the “classic” Enterprise crew, no matter when they started in Star Fleet, to end up on the Enterprise at the same, improbable time — more of the rather shaky plot there), and extremely workable for the purpose behind it. Which purpose was to let JJ Abrams and crew restart the series with new actors and lots of decent homages to Prime Canon without being forced to abide by it.

The actors — and writing and direction around them — for the Star Trek crew were excellent. While a lot of the attention has been given to Kirk and Spock, Karl Urban’s McCoy was spot on by-the-numbers, channeling DeForest Kelley in an almost scary way (and with improved acting lessons).

(And Nimoy did marvelously as a Spock who has, over the many decades of his life, become much more comfortable in his own skin and in reconciling his dual nature. That’s been something he’s brought to all the movies he’s done over the decades, and it culminates here in a very authentic and poignant way.)

The FX were good, though the shaky-cam and lens flaring were almost excessive. The music — including some triumphant revisits of the classic Alexander Courage theme over the end titles — was great (adding the sound track to my wish list …)

Ultimately, as someone who’s been steeped in Star Trek lore over the years, I found the wholesale revisionism of this film not a bother, mostly because the core spirit of the original shone through. Though there’s a big baddie, the film is more about the protagonists and how they get together; the external challenge could have been practically anything. Unlike most reboots, which seem to come along because the new creator thinks he can do the original better, or that the original can be exploited by slapping the same names on something very different, this reboot felt like it wanted to be faithful to the original while not being bound to it. 

By focusing on a new cast, we’re able to avoid stories that initially dwell on, and eventually try to ignore, that Everyone’s Gotten Old Since the Series. Instead, we can have crazy-ass action scenes, stuff happening and people emoting withou the need to fill in with dialog the why’s and wherefores.

But, again, it doesn’t bear much analysis.  It was a very fun and entertaining film, a worthy successor to the Star Trek lineage. Ironically, I almost don’t care if they never make another, since if they end it here it would be on an amazing high note. They won’t, of course, so it will be interesting to see where they go next with the whole franchise.

Highly recommended.

Star Trek (2009) (IMDB)