Outstanding

Rating: 10/10 (24 March 2013)

The Star Trek film (2009) follows the adventures of a young James Kirk, played by Chris Pine, on his path to becoming the Captain of the USS Enterprise. The story begins on the day of his birth and also shows us how the heroic actions of his father saved the lives of hundreds of people, including James and his mother, while sacrificing his own. After flash forwarding in time, we see a rebellious Kirk who does not seem to have any direction in life. A chance encounter with the Captain Pike, played by Bruce Greenwood, of the USS Enterprise encourages James to join the Star Fleet. The film takes us along the series of events that introduce the audience to many of the other key players in the previous Star Trek films such as Spock, played by Zachary Quinto, Leonard McCoy, played by Karl Urban, and Scotty, played by Simon Pegg. The events that unfold bring the group together against a common enemy, Captain Nero, played by Eric Bana, who is bent on the destruction of the entire Star Fleet. Captain Nero holds the Star Fleet responsible for the destruction of his homeworld of Romulus. Kirk must pull the group together to prevent Captain Nero from destroying Earth and the entire Star Fleet in the process.
While the theme of the films follows along the classic guidelines of good vs. evil, there are also some strong elements of character development present in the film much like we see in the film Batman Begins (2005). It is very interesting to see how James Kirk became the Captain of the USS Enterprise and formed such a strong bond with the other members of the crew as well. J.J. Abrams, director, does a fantastic job of introducing each of the key characters that we know and love from the previous Star Trek films and providing the audience with some addition back story for these characters in the process. The focus on character developments is part of what makes the film such a delight to watch.
In addition to the strong character development, the editing in the film is top notch. The pacing of the film keeps the audience on the edge of their seat and never lets up from start to finish. Even some of the less action oriented scenes are still very interesting because of how well they tie in to the overall story that is being told here. The editing of the film does an outstanding job of immersing the audience in the action that is occurring on screen. The cutting of scenes is used to great effect to set the appropriate tempo during different scenes throughout the film. The battle scenes cut back and forth between different crew members to give the audience a sense of the chaos that is occurring on screen while slow cutting is used in some of the less action oriented scenes. Overall the film never leaves the audience bored with what is happening by keeping and an excellent pace from start to finish.
Star Trek (2009) is an outstanding film that follows James Kirk from childhood to becoming the Captain of the USS Enterprise. The theme of the film follows the classic struggle of good versus evil while we see James Kirk mature from a rebellious young man to the captain of his own ship. The character development and excellent pacing throughout the film make Star Trek an enjoyable adventure to watch. I would strongly recommend this film to any potential viewers.