I will go on record straight away and say that I am not a Trekkie. I do not dislike Star Trek, but I have never watched a complete series, or specifically sought it out.J.J Abrams second directorial feature is leaps and bounds over his first. (Mission Impossible 3) The film is fast paced, witty and above all highly entertaining. Using the old "time travel" trick we are taken back to before the original series where the film breaks off onto an alternate reality stream paving the way for countless sequels or TV series that won't effect the current Star Trek Universe (although I have never quite understood any of the explanations on how exactly this is possible.)
The new film is also targeted to a far wider audience appeal, and I think it works quite well to establish the characters and general theme behind Star Trek for new viewers.
Young Jim Kirk is a rebel without a cause, that is until a bar fight introduces him to Captain Pike who dares Jim to beat his Father's impressive, but short lived record and join Star Fleet. Meanwhile on Vulcan, a young Spock is struggling with his half Human half Vulcan descent and in an act of rebellion joins Star Fleet. And we all know the rest...Boy meets Vulcan, gets accused of cheating, they pretend to hate each other when really...oh wait.... well, you get the idea.
Planet Vulcan comes under attack by a Romulan ship under the command of Nero and Star Fleet scrambles its new recruits for duty in order to help the Vulcans, only to discover that they have walked right into a trap.
I am not going to reveal too much of the plot, but it is certainly interesting and has quite a number of great action sequences. The cast are prefect in their portrayal of the original Enterprise crew and we are treated to a cameo role by Leonard Nimoy as an older and alternate universe Spock. The only issue with casting I had was that of Winona Ryder as Spock's Mother, it just doesn't make sense....
Overall though, I was quite impressed by the style and magnitude of this addition to the Star Trek universe and I am glad to have seen it at the cinema rather than wait for the DVD (which I was originally going to do)
1 comment:
I was definitely impressed by the new Star Trek. I would consider myself more of a Trekkie than you, however, so I guess that goes to show that the movie appeals to fans of the series and newcomers alike. I thought the casting was spot on and the performances were my favorite aspect of the film. I find it great that both neophytes and more hardcore Trekkies (I fall somewhere in the middle) can find things they like in this flick.
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