Star Trek

Directed by JJ Abrams

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana, Karl Urban, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana

Synopsis:

A young crew aboard the Federation Starship Enterprise get over their differences and work together to battle a major threat from the future that promises to change the galaxy forever.



Review:

After the huge disappointment of last week's " blockbuster ", Star Trek is the exact opposite; this is what a summer blockbuster should be like. It's smart, it's funny, it's epic and more importantly, fun.

This is a film that can appeal to a wide audience. Abrams has taken the spirit of what made Star Trek appealing in the first place and brought back an important element that has been missing from the stories; the human element. Ok, so the latter "Next-Gen" movies attempted to humanise the characters, through conflict, but I was never convinced. The characters in this reboot feel fully formed and are more likeable because of it.

This is no light-weight pop bubblegum movie for fluffy people, either. The movie starts with a tragedy and Abrams makes us feel it through a character's dying moments. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman's screenplay is superb and cleverly references classic Trek with no self-conscious parody. It has a depth but in the two hours can't be expected to capture Gene Roddenberry's vision that was built up over three seasons of television.

The young cast rise to the occasion. Chris Pine's Kirk is all cocky swagger. Thankfully...he...does...not...caricature Shatner. Zachary Quinto is the first actor that I've seen to make "Live Long and Prosper" sound like "Screw You" in one scene. Seeing the two Spocks together, at one point, shows how well Quinto nails this role. Our very own Simon Pegg relishes the opportunity to play Montgomery Scott and is clearly finding the whole thing very "exciting". Zoe Saldana's Uhura is a bit different from the original role and it needed to be. It also fits in with the modern take on the ship's communicator's role, from the prequel show Enterprise. John Cho leaves Harold and Kumar light years behind, playing Hikaru Sulu. Cho is pefectly suited for the action role. Anton Yelchin manages to get Walter Koenig's take on the Russian accent without making it camp and silly.

Out of the main crew, I must single out Karl Urban, who steals the show in my opinion. He does a fantastic job as Leonard "Bones" McCoy. His delivery of his lines is uncannily like DeForest Kelly without doing an impression of the late actor. "..I'm a Doctor, not a physicist!".

The supporting cast are also excellent, from Bruce Greenwood's Captain Pike to Ben Cross' Sarek. It's great to see Cross in a big budget movie again. I last saw him in a low budget horror called "Wicked Little Things". He was very good in that. It was nice seeing the gorgeous Rachel Nichols playing an Orion Starfleet Cadet in an all too brief cameo.

Eric Bana plays a realistic villain, who has a genuine grievance. He's not just there to conquer the galaxy on a whim. For those who say that he's "no Khan" have missed the point. To write in some ultra-intelligent character for the Enterpise crew to enconter and defeat would be ridiculous. Nero was a Romulan miner and uses his experience of his past job to carry out his dastardly deeds.

This movie shows how, by circumstance, the well loved Enterprise crew come together to work on the same ship and it's not initially easy sailing. But what works well in this interpretation is the way that the crew utilise all their skills to approach a problem. At one point, Chekov realises that he can help rescue colleagues and scarpers down the ship's corridors to the transporter room. I can see a boss using this movie as an example of team working and how to work together overcoming adversities. These guys aren't super-heroes but they are the best of the best in what they do.

Needless to say, the effects are astounding. Abrams crafts FX scenes with reverance and respect to the source material that should appease the most hardcore of Trekkies, whilst exciting a new audience.

Verdict:

This new film captures a little essence of the first Star Wars movie (that's Number 4 for the record) in that there's no cynicism here. I could nitpick but I feel that it's unnecessary. Go see it and enjoy for what it is; a well made, well acted, well written movie.

9/10 (Wayfarer)