Nearly perfect mix of action and story.

Rating: 9/10 (22 May 2009)

Star Trek - In lieu of successful reboots of James Bond and Batman, we have one of Star Trek. A young James Kirk (played with swagger and heart by Chris Pine) joins Starfleet to join Romulans from an alternate future in battle. He is not alone, with young Spock (played to perfection by Zachary Quinto) and a excellent supporting cast including Simon Pegg, Karl Urban (actually playing a funny character. nice)and John Cho. There are a few other surprising cameos from various TV shows, and a friend from the original show.
I will start by saying that I was never a big watcher of the original series. William Shatner and the low budget scared me away from it, but I found Next Generation to be a pleasing show. This film is a good combination of story, action, humor, and most importantly, characters. It's very much an ensemble piece, and rightly so. The original Star Trek was not meant to be solely about Kirk. Zachary Quinto comes close to stealing the show a few times. Spock is of two worlds and conflicted about whether to follow in his human or Vulcan roots. He and Kirk meet at Starfleet Academy, and they are not friends. Their relationship is one of the more interesting parts of the film.
As dodgy as the premise of time travel has become what with being abused by several sci-fi series such as the "Terminator" franchise and "Heroes", it's surprisingly well maintained here with few perceivable plot holes. Surprisingly this is one reboot that doesn't want us to forget the original. The script is also funny and allows for good characterization. The film is a nearly perfect mix of story and action.
There is only one kink. Eric Bana plays a rather mediocre villain Nero in comparison. He is underwritten to be fair, what with an Enterprise cast to become familiar with and all. Still a little more care should have been considered with character that commits acts to the level that Nero does.
Of note is the fact that the writers of the smart screenplay, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, were also responsible for the incredibly dumb Transformers screenplay. Clearly they a) have a lot more respect for Star Trek or b) were pandering to the masses with Transformers and did not feel that movie needed a clever script. What's important is that this one does. It's not so much a disguised morality tale with allusions to a present day concern like many of the television episodes were. Star Trek is firmly in the family of space opera. And why not? This fits the form of a 2 hour film much better than a 45 minute episode. And I would venture this is a Trek that everyone can find something to enjoy.
The action is enjoyable. Kirk is a brawler with more brawn than ability. You could play a drinking game for every time he gets the crap knocked out of him. Spock's fighting style is suitably stiff and alien. The space combat too has weight. And thank goodness there is no noise in space. The Enterprise does make a very satisfying noise when being shot into hyperspace though.
Another thought was given considering the remake. Historically, for every period of innovation, there are typically several decades that pay homage to that time period. The 2000s will probably be known for this. In this decade we have remade good films into bad ones like, god take your pick. We have rekindled love for tired and stale franchises, like Star Trek and James Bond. Enjoy their quality of course, but will we find our own voice and stop making love letters to the past? Star Trek gets an A-