ZEE'S REVIEWS

1st July 2009
Star Trek (2009)

My Star Trek captain will always be Picard, and my show The Next Generation; but I cannot deny Kirk his iconic status, or The Original Series its groundbreaking role. They forged a vision of a future that was hopeful, inclusive, and inspiring; a future about reaching for the stars and bringing out the best in humankind.

Which is why this new movie has a tough act to follow. It styles itself as both prequel and reboot - in other words, it is not only the story of how these characters met, but it is a true alternative telling of the tale. And in a remarkably clever twist, its alternate universe status is officially incorporated into the storyline itself.

In this universe, Kirk (Chris Pine) has grown up as a rebellious young punk with no love for Starfleet, not since his officer father was killed on a mission. But due to the intervention of Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood), who remembers that man as a hero, Kirk is spurred into joining up.

But before graduation, he and the other cadets are thrown into their first mission, to stop a renegade Romulan called Nero (Eric Bana). Nero has a mysterious past, a vendetta against the Federation, and a ship capable of destroying worlds - just as it destroyed the vessel that Kirk's father was aboard, many years ago...

It cannot be denied that this movie is a lot of fun. There is action and humour aplenty, and it's fascinating to see this new cast take up those classic roles. Kirk unfortunately remains an annoying punk most of the time, his tendency towards skirt-chasing and fist-fighting not yet tempered by the conviction and idealism that ennobled the original Kirk. This is the problem with prequels - the characters have not yet grown into the people we know and love.

Spock (Zachary Quinto) likewise displays rather more fire and ichor than I would expect from a Vulcan, although his cool wit is also in evidence. On the other hand, Uhura (Zoe Saldana) is a perfect blend of strength and smarts, and at last gets a defined skillset (xenolinguistics, phonology, and acoustical engineering) to match her status as bridge crew. Bones (Karl Urban) is enjoyably irascible, while Sulu (John Cho) and Scotty (Simon Pegg) are pure delight. Sadly, Chekov (Anton Yelchin) is relegated to a walking accent joke, but I'm not sure if this is actually much different from the original series.

Highlights of the movie include Pike telling Kirk his father was captain for twelve minutes and saved eight hundred lives, Kirk's audacious foiling of the no-win Kobayashi Maru simulation, our first heartstopping glimpse of the Enterprise, and the very real pleasure of seeing Leonard Nimoy again. On the other hand, there are moments of self-indulgence, like the pointless car chase at the beginning, and attempts to be too clever, like the heavily foreshadowed 'obligatory' redshirt.

Star Trek is a good movie, but it is not a great movie - and this is because it does not plumb the emotional depths a great movie would. There is a reason The Wrath of Khan is a classic movie, and that reason is absent in this movie. The characters never get to confront their worst fears or meet the ultimate test of their true selves. Kirk never faced his Kobayashi Maru at the academy, and neither does he here. That still lies in the future, awaiting a different man.

Ultimately, the Star Trek reboot is like all alternate universes: a fun place to visit, but in the end, there's no place like home.

Read Alaris' review of Star Trek (2009).