Enjoyable Hokum

Rating: 8/10 (3 June 2013)

Does this sound at all familiar? Captain Kirk is insubordinate, disobeys orders and is demoted from his command. An emergency then manifests itself; Kirk is reinstated to his former office and sent on a dangerous mission with his loyal crew only too happy to have him back. There are then a series of adventures, setbacks and plot-twists as the film-makers toy with the audience, keeping them in suspense as to who might be the real baddies and who are the good guys.
This is a romping and thoroughly enjoyable action film which is full-on in its run of over 2 hours and never allows any lull in proceedings. This is augmented by terrific CGI special effects, as you would expect. Don't expect to be bored at any stage of this visually spectacular film.
But it fails to make the transition to 'classic of its genre'. The film's main weakness is the casting of Chris Pine as Captain Kirk. That he is easy on the eye is pretty much beyond dispute, but therein lies the problem. He does not convey the inner gravitas for the role he plays here. You can't understand how he could have risen to command in the first place, let alone been considered worthy of reinstatement following being stripped of that status. It's not helped either that were he to get in a fisticuffs with Justin Bieber, you'd be hard-pressed to know who you'd put your money on. The producers clearly want him to develop a Butch and Sundance style partnership with offsider Spock – the highly effective Zachary Quinto. But it's not working. I have no wish to be unnecessarily harsh on him – he has previously acted well, convincing as the feckless son in Bottle Shock. I just feel he needs a few grey hairs and some laughter lines, an indication that he's lived life and known disappointment.
Benedict Cumberbatch has a clear run as the arch-villain John Harrison/Khan. He is flawless in his portrayal of an evil man seeking to wreck the world and stamp ruthlessly on anyone who prevents him from getting his own way. Still, Benedict went to Harrow School so I imagine that he was given the perfect education for such a role. (Yes I know that's a little unfair – Churchill went there too). Simon Pegg returns as Scotty and is given a series of one-liners which were a little over-laboured and failed in the cinema I attended to raise much of a laugh. Zoe Saldana also returns as the headstrong Lieutenant Uhura and interacts well with Spock with whom she is romantically involved.
Take a couple of glasses of wine into the cinema when you go and see this film and you should enjoy it greatly.