STAR TREK
PARAMOUNT
RELEASED 7 May 2009
Ever seen the Star Trek movie where they go looking for whales in the 20th Century? Funny wasn’t it. Spock walks around San Francisco wearing a white dressing gown, Ensign Chekov searches for nuclear ‘wessels’, and Captain Kirk declares he only works in outer space and was born in Iowa. That was ‘Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home’, released way back in 1986, twenty-three years ago. It was probably the last cross-generational Star Trek movie. Sure, there have been a couple of good ones since but it’s only really Trekkies who remember them. ‘Star Trek’ has always had an air of seriousness, of gobbledegook tech speak, of ‘being for the boys’. Well forget all that, because ‘fun’ Trek is back, rebooted with a brand new cast for a new generation of moviegoers.
A Romulan starship commandered by Nero (Eric Bana) has travelled back in time through a black hole to destroy Earth after his own planet of Romulus has been destroyed in his timeline, an event he blames Starfleet for, and specifically Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Nero’s first victim on his way to Earth is the Starship Kelvin, whose Captain, George Kirk, courageously sacrifices himself to save the lives of 800 crew members, including his own wife and newborn son, Jim. Nero waits twenty-five years for Spock to also appear through the black hole so he can dispatch his vengeance on the planets of Vulcan and Earth with his planet-destroying spaceship. What he doesn’t expect is to face the newly launched USS Enterprise captained by Christopher Pike, First Officer Spock, and a stowaway cadet called James T. Kirk.
If that brief synopsis sounds a bit complicated, don’t worry, because the story isn’t really the important part of this new rebooted Star Trek. The main story is dull and boring (the first ten minutes hold the most tension, a bit like a Bond film), and Nero is a passive villain that has very little to do. The decision to pit an enemy spaceship hundreds of times bigger than the Enterprise pretty much makes a battle between the two ‘illogical’ and devoid of tension. This new movie is all about introducing a cast that play characters we’ve been familiar with for over forty years, and giving them a youthful injection of comedy and action. We get to see how they all came to be on the Enterprise, and how their fledgling friendships began, especially the triangular dynamic of Kirk, Spock and Bones. We even get a throwaway line explaining Bones nickname. There’s more than twenty laughs in the film (I counted), and the action set-pieces are thrilling, pulse-pounding stuff. The new Enterprise crew are perfectly cast, with Simon Pegg as Scotty and Zachary Quinto as Spock being highlights, while Karl Urban steals the show with his eerie channelling of the late DeForest Kelly into his performance as Doctor McCoy. I don’t think Chris Pine brings the necessary charisma to the role of Kirk (he’s no Shatner), but he’s a good-looking lead and perhaps he doesn’t quite shine in the face of such high-quality company. And the important cameo from Leonard Nimoy is perfectly judged.
The script is a knock-out, and apart from the comedy, there are two or three moments (the opening scenes, Pike convincing Kirk to enlist in Starfleet, Spock explaining the Kobyashi Maru test to Kirk) that really deliver emotionally.
As a fairly hardcore fan, there were a few things that bothered me, especially the anonymous score from Michael Giacchino (Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner supplied classic themes to previous films) but the overall zest and vigour of the movie can’t help but sweep the most ardent of fans along for the ride. And there are plenty of references to the original series and movies that will please the trainspotting crowd (guilty m’lud). Lieutenant Uhura finally gets a first name too!
What this movie really does is reinvigorate the Star Trek brand for years to come. The franchise had become stale, but now I can see the scope for at least two sequels, with surely the noticeably-absent Klingons due to raise hell in a few years time. May this new Starship Enterprise live long and prosper.
FOUR OUT OF FIVE