Star Trek Movie Review

From top to bottom, this is not your older, nerdier brother’s Star Trek. This is Star Trek for the masses of people who may have never given it a chance in the past, and that includes people who thought that they were too cool to watch a Star Trek film, although with the growing appeal of nerd chic these days, that old and trusty axiom may be starting to disappear altogether.

JJ Abrams reboot (and it most definitely is a reboot) of the classic sci-fi series takes a savvy eye and a new perspective to the beloved source material and brings us an interpretation of Star Trek that is updated for today’s audience. Similar in ways to what Christopher Nolan did for the Batman franchise, Abrams takes us back to the early years of the Federation with an emphasis on down-to-earth realism with less space age magic machines and technical mumbo jumbo. The starships internal designs have an almost steamboat-like design with lots of metal piping and railings in the engineering sections and beaming technology is still in its infancy. The Enterprise itself looks stunning, like a retro Cadillac restored to its beautiful hayday, and the special effects are top notch as you would expect. The presentation in Star Trek has a shiny new coat of paint, but doesn’t seem flashy or over the top which in the hands of less talented directors could have been its downfall.

The movie itself is faced paced and sprinkled with genuinely funny humour, but the best part for me was the interaction between Spock and Kirk. Zachary Quinto steals the show with his portrayl of the conflicted Vulcan, giving us a glimpse of Spock as a young go getter bound by logic but still learning to deal with his human emotions, plus he gets kinda freaky naughty. I won’t explain that further, but you’ll know what I mean when you see it. Chris Pine (Kirk) and Quinto seems like polar opposites, and they are, but the dynamic that exists between them in this movie is exactly what I would have pictured as their early relationship: a rocky one, but one complimenting the other.

The only downside that I could find with Star Trek was the story itself. Time travel is usually a difficult and treacherous basis for any story as it provides the potential for plot holes and inconsistencies that may leave the audience shaking their heads a bit. I also thought that villain Nero was a little shallow even though the director went out of his way to give us his reasons for doing his dastardly deeds, he still felt like a one dimensional character. The new universe that Abrams creates is explained away as simply a different timeline or alternate reality, which I think would be a particularly nasty can of worms, but then again, it does seem to open the door for potentially great sequels. The only thing that disturbs me a little bit is the complete departure from cannon that this may take the series down.

Ultimately the good REALLY outweighs the bad with this movie, and I would say it is a contender for best blockbuster of the summer.

So thats what I thought of the movie. Let us know what you think below in the comments section.