Star Trek Review

Running Length: 2:06
MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Violence, Sexual Situations)
Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood
Director: J.J. Abrams

Rating: 3/4 (maybe 3.5 if you’ve watched previous Star Trek movies)

Some Star Trek fans are calling this the best Star Trek movie so far. Having watched the previous movies I supposed I can see why that’s so.

First of all, it’s been modernized to something relevant to our era of viewers. It’s fast paced and there’s cool effects, epic space battles, sexual innuendo, fight scenes, young up-and-coming cast. That’s not all of course, there are also interesting characters and nice quip lines, memorable scenes and throw backs to the Star Trek of old. Yup, this is a bold new imagining of Star Trek and from the looks of it, there’s definitely gonna be sequels.

The movie begins straight into it with a big space battle and the introduction of the movie’s villain, Nero. He’s from the future and he’s about to rewrite history. Literally. Basically his actions have a direct impact on arguably two of the most popular characters in Star Trek history, Captain James T. Kirk and his best friend, Spock. What this does is offer the movie’s writers an almost blank sheet of paper to re-imagine the characters as well as offer long time fans a chance to experience their beloved characters before they became… well, who they are supposed to be. It’s an origin story of sorts, although the ending is not the way it was before anymore.

Overall I felt it was a good movie, but viewers new to the Star Trek universe might not quite get some of the ‘reveals’ in the movie that would otherwise be significant to others previously exposed to the original Star Trek movies. I feel having a reference and comparison to what these characters are supposed to be like and what has been changed gives the story more ‘bite’.

I’ve been told that it was a movie made to be accessible to those with no prior experience to Star Trek. I don’t think that’s entirely true. In a way I’m glad that’s the case because otherwise the movie might have been neither here nor there; failing to reach fans as well as newcomers. Having said that, I believe the movie has enough substance to be enjoyable to those without prior exposure to Star Trek nonetheless. The characters are definitely colorful enough and the actors and script work together well to make you like and root for the ‘good guys’ early in the film. I enjoyed the various character interactions and different quirks each character displayed. Audiences always have an easier time identifying with characters with evident flaws than stereotypical heroes. I guess that’s true in real life as well.

Go watch it if you like action packed science fiction movies. I’d just advise you to watch at least a few of the previous Star Trek movies to increase your enjoyment of the film. It’s a treat to be able to see some well loved characters taking their baby steps into a familiar yet strangely different universe. To boldly go, where no man has gone before…

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