Star Trek review

Paramount Pictures had no intention of doing any more Star Trek films when word leaked that J.J. Abrams wanted to do a Star Trek film. But instead of doing a sequel, he decided to re-invent the original Star Trek. So I guess it could be called a prequel though it's similar to origin stories that they do in comic books. Of course fans were skeptical but Abrams wisely decided to cast unknowns in the film and he also brought in the writing team of Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci. He's worked with them in the past on Alias and Mission Impossible. The film begins with the birth of James T. Kirk as his father dies in the line of duty. The early part of the film concentrates on Kirk's rebellious nature and establishes other characters. But it kicks into high gear when Leonard McCoy smuggles Kirk onto the USS Enterprise. Obviously they have Romulan problems and the special effects and action scenes move the story along. But the whole point of the film is to re-establish these characters for the inevitable sequel. I was always a fan of the original Star Trek and didn't like the other incarnations. I think most fans will be happy with this film.





If the film has one major problem, it's that the villain Nero (Eric Bana) is way too generic for me. He just doesn't have any personality. The rumour (denied by Abrams) is that Jack Black will play Harry Mudd in the sequel. That would be interesting. Abrams wisely hired unknowns for Star Trek. It makes the characters more believable. Establishing the characters was more important than the weak villain so I'm OK with it. Chris Pine studied William Shatner but fortunately his portayal of Kirk isn't a caricature. BTW, here's a little Chris Pine trivia. His dad Robert Pine was a regular on the 80s TV series CHIPs. Zachary Quinto looks so much like Spock that it's a little creepy. He's very good. I also liked Zoe Saldana as Uhura and Simon Pegg as Scott. I didn't care for Karl Urban's take on McCoy. And of course Leonard Nimoy is always fun to watch as Spock. I'm sure they'll flesh out some of the other characters and include more humour in the sequel scheduled for a 2011 release. I thought the film was a very good starting point and I think fans of the original Star Trek series should check it out. Here's the trailer.