Story and substance come second to a brave, brash and thoroughly accomplished rebooting of some old favourites.

Rating: 6/10 (11 April 2013)

The 2009 rebooting, re-envisaging of the Star Trek franchise drops us head first into its franchise's latest adventure - adventures often consisting of large groups of shrewd crew members commandeering grandiose, deep-space travelling vessels and getting into strife for our viewing pleasure. As if a dogfight between two spaceships wasn't enough to open a science fiction/action blockbuster, American director J.J. Abrams throws in a significant death, on top of an equally significant birth; a time travelling space ship ganging up on a ship half its size and a highly dramatic escape sequence. You can practically see the grin on the man's face as he unleashes this opening sequence onto fans of the franchise, who are likely stoked to the point of frenzy in the first place.
If the general consensus was that the generation of Enterprise crew members whom followed that of the original crew, consisting of Kirk et al, were never quite of that standard in energy and engagement, and that the films of post-1991 followed a similar suite, then Abrams effectively blasts his way into a new era; new canon and new depictions of old favourites with this one, swooping opening movement at once encompassing just about everything you possibly could to open a reboot dramatically. In essence, the whole thing's gone "Bond/Batman" on us – the old crew are back for the first time since 1989, but the twist reads something like: most of the people playing them weren't even born at that time. This of course translates into the fact the crew of Kirk, Spock, etc. are in their youth and we follow their progress here from lowly kids on their respective planets to employees for the peaceful, respectful and reassuringly indomitable intergalactic organisation of StarFleet.
That said, the film is almost frightened of formally taking on such an idea; the throwing in of a time travel-driven narrative calls to mind past ventures while a later scene actually dares to bring back one of the original crew in their older form. Likewise, and where people often cite Wrath of Khan as their favourite franchise instalment, this 2009 reboot dares to periodically invoke said film with its inclusion of mind slugs and that seemingly unbeatable examination we witnessed in "Wrath's" opening. In spite of all its bravado and slick visuals telling a rip-roaring yarn featuring incarnations of people we're fond of, it is quite extraordinary just how ordinary the film actually is. In spite of everything that arrives with it, and in spite of the fact it's difficult to watch it without a smile on one's face at the best of times, the film is painfully commonplace as a standalone work of filmmaking. There is an unshakable feeling that narrative and conflict came second to the primary focus of rebooting, something inherent in the relatively weak narrative idea that this crew of people must merely set out to save the world.
When we begin proper, we do so way-back-when: far back enough for James T. Kirk to be a youth rebellious enough and spiteful enough to wreck his step father's car in what is an intuitive, brave and blasé response to a set-up; situation or person that grinds him. As Kirk grows a little older, he begins to resemble Chris Pine, who does a fantastic job in capturing the later mannerisms of Kirk – that odd, twitchy way in which he seemed to suppress nerves through stares and a brisk, sharp series of statements that cut to the heart of the matter. His renegade attitude from infancy carries over into young adulthood, his aggression and enthusiasm eventually channelled into joining StarFleet where he swaps the farms of Iowa for warzones set in deep space. Because everyone in the crew is still young, and the film is ultimately aimed at people of similar age, we get scenes set in bars; scenes of people haring down the roads in their automobiles to loud rock music and fleeting compositions of girls in their underwear during this juvenalised segment.
The villain is a Romulan named Nero, played by Eric Bana – but he makes for a poor antagonist: a snarling, skin-headed, heavily tattooed bad guy drawn from stock and going on to remind you of just how good he was in playing a character of similar visual proportions, although much more rounded, in 2000's "Chopper". Nero's unhappy at what happened to his planet far into the future, that is to say its complete destruction at the hands of the Vulcans and the Humans – travelling back in time, his plan is to destroy Vulcan and Earth instead of using this time travelling technology to save the planet or try for some sort of compromise is weak, and emphasises how the attention towards the general rebooting trumped anything else. When Kirk does eventually assume control of a ship for the first time, we take note of the meek substance surrounding his channelling of the grief born out of the death of his father at the hands of the Romulans, and how this differs to Nero's attitude to it all. Aside from this, Kirk himself is on a bit of a black list with the StarFleet higher-ups when we witness him cheat at that commandeering test – the film coming to resemble a proving of sorts that he can, in fact, handle himself. But this is a start, a kick-starting of a fresh series of films based further still on old ground; a series with a first film here I enjoyed enough to want more, old ground of which I do not know as much about the essence as many-a others likely do that I still relish in re-treading anyway. The film has its flaws, and cannot quite match the quality of some of the preceding entries, but it is almost certainly worth checking out.