Star Trek

Rating: 7/10 (22 February 2012)

From Lost creator and director J.J. Abrams (Mission: Impossible III, Super 8), many fans of the original and following alternative and spin-off series, i.e. Trekkies, were probably hoping to see how it all started for the original Enterprise crew, well, this film showed us. Basically in the 23rd century, the Federation starship USS Kelvin is attacked by the Romulan mining ship Narada during a lightning storm investigation, Lieutenant George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth) taking over briefly as captain, after Captain Robau (Faran Tahir) is killed, and his pregnant wife Winona (Jennifer Morrison) gives birth to their baby James Tiberius 'Jim' Kirk when they are evacuated, while George sacrifices himself. Years later James Kirk (Unstoppable's Chris Pine) has grown up into a trouble making and reckless, and meeting Captain Christopher Pike (Eight Below's Bruce Greenwood) after a fight in a bar he is invited to join Starfleet to follow the path of his father before him. At the same time, on the planet Vulcan, also grown up Spock (Heroes' Zachary Quinto) is being frowned upon for his high intelligence, and he is discriminated for being half-human and half-Vulcan, but mainly they are unconvinced he could join Starfleet, which is his ambition. When Spock is eventually allowed to go to Starfleet training, he and Kirk meet for the first time, and after a simulated command of a ship, alongside new friend Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy's Karl Urban), Jim is accused of cheating the test. When all the new recruits are being assigned a ship to be part of the crew, Kirk is disappointed that he is not chosen for one himself, so he decides to stowaway on the USS Enterprise, where Spock and Bones, and Nyota Uhura (Avatar's Zoë Saldana). This obviously disappoints Captain Pike, and there is a real dangerous situation that crops up for the Enterprise, and fellow crew members, such as Hikaru Sulu (American Pie's John Cho) and Pavel Chekov (Fright Night's Anton Yelchin), they are all really put to the test. Kirk is stranded on the desert planet Delta Vega after being accused of mutiny, and during an attack by a giant alien animal monster he is saved by a future older Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and he explains to his friend of the past more about the enemy they are against Captain Nero (Eric Bana). Nero blames Starfleet for the destruction of his home planet Romulus and wants revenge, so with this knowledge of the soon to come future, and accompanied by new crew member Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott (Simon Pegg), Kirk finds a way back on to the Enterprise. The crew of the ship manage to defeat Nero and destroy the Narada before it heads for Earth, and Captain Kirk takes over the USS Enterprise, with Spock being his second in command, and good friend, and they all travel by warp to the next mission in space. Also starring Winona Ryder as Amanda Grayson, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's Deep Roy as Keenser and Stand by Me's Wil Wheaton as Romulan. The cast of younger actors playing the parts we are all familiar with do pretty well, the story has some good moments in it, and the special effects are obviously a big draw as the Enterprise blasts into action, with the many aliens and explosive action scenes throughout. This is the eleventh film in the Stark Trek franchise, and being a prequel to the original beginnings is an interesting move, but it does work well, and you can see sequels following, a worthwhile science-fiction adventure. It won the Oscar for Best Makeup, and it was nominated for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects, and it was nominated the BAFTAs for Best Sound and Best Special Visual Effects. Very good!