I know this is going to be fodder for the nutjobs out there that like to pick on us here at WMD, but I don't care. I am a Star Trek fan. Have been for 30 years. And while I don't trumpet it quite as much as my friend Matt, I, too, was a "Starfleet Admiral" in a Star Trek fan club a long time ago. So what? I love the fantasy of Star Trek...it doesn't hurt anybody, unlike believing in the fantasy of Obama as competent, which has cost thousands of jobs and generations of Americans enslaved by debt. But enough of that, let's get to the review.....
While I will try to stay free of spoilers, here is an obligatory SPOILER ALERT!
To answer the question in the title, for Star Trek it costs six billion souls, an armada of starships, the history of three TV series and 9 movies, and a couple hundred novels of Star Trek canon. Why did Star Trek have to be reborn? Why did we have to "reimagine" Star Trek? Three words: Paramount, Berman, and Braga. Paramount for the last decade and a half has mismanaged and maligned the franchise. Berman and Braga, once the founder Roddenberry was laid to rest, decided to create some type of monument to their own intellect instead of staying true to Star Trek. Voyager was a failure, and Star Trek: Enterprise only came around when Berman and Braga gave up and let Manny Coto try to write plots and episodes, and by then it was too late to save a show that had such promise. Also, of course, there is the "we want to re-introduce great characters for a new generation" idea. So, no Bill Shatner. No Walter Koenig. No George Takei (thank God). No Nichelle Nichols (not a big loss).
So, we are left with this new film, a new look at some old friends--the original crew of the Starship Enterpise. However, the past has been affected by the future. Romulans from the future have infiltrated the past we used to know. Through their machinations, events that we used to know of are forever altered. A staple of Star Trek is erased from space. Relationships familiar are now not so familiar. The Trek I grew up on has been altered by time travel.
OK, now I know what you are thinking...oh no, not time travel again! When they time travel, we have all sorts of continuity issues and canon erased and things screwed up. While that may happen at some point, this one is not so bad. Here is the good news--the Trek I grew up with still has meaning. Director and Reimaginer JJ Abrams of "Lost" fame did a decent job of still giving our original timeline respect, while doing what he could to create wiggle room for his new vision of our old friends. And, as a part Vulcan friend of mine says, Time is not about alternate realities. It is a ribbon that twists and goes around and meets up again. Besides, there had to be some cleansing bloodletting after the mess that Berman and Braga and the powers that be made of Trek....
So, friends, while it is not our Star Trek, it is not a totally unrecognizable bastardization, which is sadly what the new Battlestar Galactica became. There is still the Federation, still Jim Kirk, Spock, Scotty, McCoy, Uhura, and Sulu....and Checkov--which I have problems with in terms of why is he even here at this point, but what the hell....let's get down to the details....
The Good
The casting in this movie was very well done. I knew Zach Quinto (Heroes, Sylar) would make a great Spock from the moment I heard him mentioned. He just has it down, without becoming a caricature of Leonard Nimoy, who has a limited but significant role as "Old Spock" from the future. Quinto is able to capture the conflict of being a child of two worlds, without just reading from Leonard's liner notes. Chris Pine was excellent as a young Jim Kirk--brash, arrogant, but almost always right in following his gut instincts--the archetype of a captain. He, too, drives home the essentials of the Kirk character--the angst, humor, and cockiness--without becoming a William Shatner impressionist. Both men are great fits for these characters, and it will be interesting to see how they put their own stamps on these legendary characters. Karl Urban channelled DeForest Kelley in his role as Bones McCoy, capturing the compassion of the country surgeon, while still keeping that irascible wit. The age difference between him and Pine also was a good touch. The chemistry between these three is very good, and I can already see the triumverate reforming.
Simon Pegg was good as Scotty, but at times I thought he fell into the trap of trying to steal scenes and be nothing but comic relief. He was far too over the top in trying to be Jimmy Doohan. However, Jimmy was able to just be his character and he was able to steal the show at times by just playing the role. While Pegg was good, he should be a bit more understated. I was worried about John Cho (Harold and Kumar Dope Movies), but he was excellent as Hikaru Sulu. Zoe Saldana seemed to be playing the diva-ish Nichelle Nichols more than the character of Uhura, but she gave a good performance. Even Chekov (who should not have even been on the bridge, much less the Academy, by this point)is done well. The venerable Bruce Greenwood does a magnificent job as Captain Chris Pike.
The plot, while dealing with time travel, is decently executed. While it messes with our notion of where the characters began with past continuity, we have to remember that the timeline has been disturbed by Romulans, creating a new ribbon in the multiverse. This is where Abrams is able to keep us old Trekkers in the game--he tells us that our mainstream traditional Trek is still a valid story and canon, but that he is exploring another ribbon in the Star Trek space time continuity, a ribbon which will be the one for a new generation of sci fi fans to follow, and he invites us along for the ride. The scenes between Old Spock and Young Kirk are poignant, and Nimoy definitely steals the show in his last (?) swansong as Spock. There are actually times when I could see young Shatner and Co. doing what Abrams was having the characters do. While playing with some of the details, Abrams keeps the core of our characters and our Trek true and pure; unlike other reimaginings like Day the Earth Stood Still, Battlestar Galactica, and others. Eric Bana does a decent job as the Melvillian villain, Nero, trying to redeem a lost world by destroying others, but consuming his own soul in the process.
The Not So Good
While I could go all old school and argue about why Kirk and Spock are around the academy at the same time, or how the crew all magically ends up on Enterprise fresh out of the academy, or blahdeblah blah...I won't. It is actually ok, and the Kirk/Spock situation makes a kind of of sense when you think about it. Also, remember, in order to unchain yourself from the shackles of the past, you may have to break a link or two. However, I do have some isssues....OK, what is Chekov doing here? He shouldn't even be in the academy, much less on the bridge of the Enterprise yet. Speaking of the Enterprise, the technology on the bridge was far too advanced for the early days of Kirk and Spock. Heck, it looked too advanced for the Next Generation crew! The bridge was far too lit up and bright, although the neat heads up displays were nice. However, please don't do time travel for a while, Mr. Abrams! Also, please don't have some of the leads become obsessed with who they were in "old Spock's" time. There was an element of this at times that Abrams used to link us to the new actors and to give newcomers foreshadowing of the greatness to come, but let's let it end there.
Also, what is up with Kirk NOT getting the girl? I mean, this is the lothario of the universe. The big pimping daddy of the Prime Directive! And, Winona Ryder as Amanda, Spock' mother? I was afraid she was going to be stealing IDICs and relics from the Vulcan science academy (dated joke?). Thankfully, she is easily forgotten and hopefully will never reappear in a Trek film again. And do we have to redo the stardate system....AGAIN????
Some Notes for This Bold New Future
OK, so the mistakes of Berman and Braga are wiped away in this new timeline, right? I mean, we are dealing with a whole new Trek, as Spock and Kirk have different lives now than the ones we have known for the past 40 years ( I am not going to tell you how, exactly, but trust me, these are vastly different lives than the ones they had in our time....From the very opening scene you see how drastically Jimmy Kirk life will be changed). OK, so let's give Mr. Abrams and Paramount some ideas, or some things maybe we Trek fans can hope for.....Maybe now there will not be a Captain Janeway, or if they do have one, perhaps the Voyager story will actually be one that is entertaining....Let's hope for Klingons that are consistent, and for stories that don't need to be reopened just so we can save someone's career (see the incessant obsession with going back to the original trek and hanging with Kirk by DS9 and Voyager). Let's hope for a world without Kes, a world without Janeway. And Borg that look more like 7 of 9 than Hugh. Let's also hope they don't redo the Khan story, as NO ONE can capture the scene chewing excellence displayed by Shatner and Montalban in these two classic stories. Let's hope for a Next Gen era where HMS Pinafore is not used as a plot device....And, let's hope that Berman and Braga are never allowed near Star Trek again....it has already cost our universe a timeline and over 6 billion lives.....Most of all, let's hope for a Trek that can be compared, even imperfectly, to the one of the last 40 years with positive results.
Conclusion
This is indeed not your father's Star Trek...but it is comparable....It is not my original series, not truly Classic Trek...but that is OK. It is good to see my favorite crew again, even with different faces. They still have the essence that defined their characters, if not the faces. This is the Trek of a new era which needs Trek, and not some new characters, but the original crew which defined it. And while they will be defining new territory, they honor what has gone before. I hope this is a small portent of the helmsmanship of Mr. Abrams. If it is, then Trek is in good hands...if it is just a one shot of respect, then it will be short. My concern is that this group will probably only be able to do a trilogy of films before it gets too expensive, which will be sad, as this crew has some chemistry and potential.
Perhaps out of the closing of the ribbon of time that was my Trek, my beloved franchise can live again, with essence of the time that I loved so well. I am hopeful of this, and encourage you to sample this familiar, yet bold new look at epic characters of Sci Fi. While not filling my hope to see Bill Shatner in the center seat again,this started a hunger to see Kirk and Spock soaring the spaceways once again. Everything old was made new again....If I may be so bold, let me close in this way.....
Captain's log....Stardate 2009.353...All is well, yet I can't help but think of the Trek seemingly left behind....There are always possibilities, Spock said. And if indeed this film brings forth life from near death, I must return here again....
Switzer: Mark, time is a ribbon...it all loops around and is connected. Our trek is not dead you know, as long as we remember....You ok? How do you feel?
Me: Young....I feel...young....
Switzer: Course heading?
Me: Second star to the right....and straight on til morning.....
Captain's log...supplemental....
Even as my generation turn over the ship and her history to another generation, To them and their posterity we commit our future..we wish them well....They will continue to watch the journeys we have started and made, travelling to their own "undiscovered countries"... boldly going where no man....where no one...has gone....before....
