Rebooting the matinée

Rating: 7/10 (12 May 2009)

Part and parcel of the PR bandwagon for 'Star Trek' were reports of Trekkers (a devotee corrected my previous use of the term 'Trekkie') weeping in the aisles, collapsing in ecstacy etc. at preview screenings. I suppose that's to be expected. It's been a long time since a movie featured the original characters and there was always something slightly antiseptic about the TNG cast and the movies spawned from their series. Such was the pre-release feedback from that constituency I was expecting to be blown away, rather than, as happened, leaving the cinema entertained and engaged, with slight nagging doubts. The most major of these is how cavalierly this reboot rewrites the entire Star Trek universe, details of which, of course, cannot be revealed. It also uses the laziest of sci-fi clichés in order to twist a plot around. When you see the movie you will understand instantly what I mean by this. Otherwise, it's most pleasant aspects are the rich, warm tones of its cinematography and retro stylings when it comes to the likes of uniforms, 'ray guns' and starship interiors which appear to feature copious amounts of pipework. This is as much a homage to an earlier generation of science fiction movies as to the original Star Trek TV series. One irritation is Abrams love of shaky camera work, which sometimes, when combined with overwhelming pyrotechnics makes it difficult to see what's actually going on. This is where JJ Abrams has fixed his vision. The reboot aims at recreating the intimacy of the TV series, dodging behind rocks and acrobatic hand-to-hand combat rather than the 'epic' and cerebral tone introduced by the movies of the 70s and 80s. Unfortunately the plot is not that strong. As in other recent 'reboots' of Batman and Superman, the initial exposition of story drags a little as characters are introduced. I have my doubts as to whether the actors are able to either inhabited these much-loved characters effectively and also give them new life. In this first movie, Spock and Kirk aside, perhaps, they seem to be pale imitations. Simon Pegg's Scotty, especially, was a disappointment. The thing about Star Trek is that it's such an assured franchise, the producers know they can refine and enrich their re-imagined ST universe over several more films, and this one gives them a relatively strong platform to do this from.