Terrific. Super. Wonderful. Great!

Rating: Null/10 (10 May 2009)

OK, I'm a closet Trekkie, let's get that out of the way upfront. But you don't have to be one, to enjoy this movie. It's fast paced, well acted, exciting, beautifully made and perfectly cast. It's a good movie - Trek or not. It's not especially cerebral, but neither is it as dumb as most big budget action flicks, and importantly for those of us who have watched every version of Star Trek over 40 years, it does stick to the spirit of the original show, bringing humanity and humour to space.
Watching this origins episode (tagline The Future Begins Here) of the ongoing Star Trek story (and calling it a mere franchise just doesn't do it justice. It's a part of our cultural heritage) something occurred to me yet again, something that I often felt while watching the TV shows. The reason Star Trek works, is because it's about people. It's not about space flight, or science fiction or digital trickery or aliens or warps in the fabric of the space-time continuum or fabulous special effects, although those are all there in abundance. It's about people. As Kirk famously said in an earlier iteration of the Star Trek story (and I'm paraphrasing) "I'm from Iowa. I just work in space." This story just happens to be set in space but what it's about is Spock, Kirk, Bones, Scotty, Uhura, Chekov, Sulu and the anonymous ensign who always dies early. It's about the humour and the interactions, the relationships and the characters that have seeped into our consciousness over the decades. And it had me hooked by the end of the excellent opening sequence.
The story traces the early days of the crew of the USS Enterprise, as they pass through Starfleet Academy and take their place in the ranks of Starfleet officers. It explains the background of Kirk and Spock, and follows them and their colleagues as they must work through their differences to save earth from destruction (well what else would it be about?) Others will explicate the detail of the story, which involves the Romulans as enemies of the Federation, enemies who are seeking vengeance in the past for the destruction of their home planet at some future date, allowing their bad guys to travel back in time to confront Spock, Kirk et al. and the fabric of space time to be thoroughly upset. I think.....
But what I'd really like to emphasize is the excellence of the casting which is truly inspired, the tightness of the script and the perfection of the effects which do EXACTLY what special effects should do – namely enhance the story telling, not drown it. I thought each and every actor was perfect in the part, but special mention must go to Zachary Quinto who is just superb as a young Spock wrestling with his human-Vulcan biracial origins. He looks uncannily like a young Leonard Nimoy but he is also a nuanced actor. Chris Pine as Kirk actually looks less like William Shatner (as compared to Qunito/Nimoy) but has the character to a 'T' without in any way just being an impersonation. Zoe Saldana as Uhuru was super and her flirtation with Spock was an unexpected but welcome aside to the main story, they brought a real sensuality to their scenes. Simon Pegg and Karl Urban were also perfect. I found Sulu perhaps the least believable of all the characters but that's a minor criticism. Chekov was perhaps a little too puppy-like, but nonetheless endearing.
My only one slightly negative comment might be that this is very much a Boys Own story. Uhuru was of course the only significant woman on the original show back in the 60s, but we've gotten used to seeing the girlies take a bigger role in The Next Generation and the various other spin offs. It seemed strange in a prominent movie about the future, to see the women taking such a small role. And Scotty's fluffy friend was a bit unnecessary and reminded me too much of an Ewok. But apart from that - great! I'll buy the DVD. (Sad eh?)