Star Trek XI - Review
(For www.austrek.org)

By Mark Geraghty

Beware, unlike my previous review, this one contains some spoilers!

There's a lot to like about JJ Abrams' re-imagined, big screen version of `Star Trek`. All the familiar elements, that Star Trek fans around the world adore, are on show. Somehow though, things have changed.

Watching the new movie and comparing it to everything that has come before, is like driving a 1999 Falcon and then trading it in for a 2009 version. It still has that familiar sound, but the list of standard equipment makes it look and feel like nothing you've ever driven before.

The 2009 version of `Star Trek` is a fast-paced action film, designed to appeal to a much broader audience than the core fan base. It's really clear that Paramount Pictures, as with `Iron Man` and `Transformers`, are hoping that this film is the start of a long-running film franchise, designed to make as much money as possible. (Who can fault them? I've been a fun long enough to know, it's better to have a film every three years than nothing at all!)

The film's story takes a tried and true `Star Trek` story conceit - time travel - and does a great job at coming up with the best big screen entry since ‘Star Trek IV'. Fortunately, the time travel is a starting point for the film, which the film does not dwell too much upon. It is only about two-thirds through the film that the time travel has to be revisited and a little exposition is required to tie up some loose story threads.

The focus of this `Trek` is the coming together of the original Enterprise crew. Previous `Trek` had established some elements of how the crew originally came together, but neither the TV shows nor films had ever put it up on the screen. Fortunately for JJ Abrams and his production team, the casting of the seven main roles appears to be one of those "lightning in a bottle" occurrences where the actors cast as Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu and Chekov are almost perfect. I really enjoyed Chris Pine's `Kirk`. His performance brings a youthful swagger reminiscent of William Shatner while making the role his own. Pine is on the screen for more time than any other actor in this film and, by the end, I really wanted him to take his place in the centre seat of the Enterprise . Zachary Quinto makes a great 'Spock'. His portrayal of the Vulcan starts out intense and builds from there. The dynamic between Pine and Quinto helps drive the film forward to its "logical" conclusion.

The remainder of the cast turns in really strong performances; with Karl Urban as 'McCoy' and Zoe Saldana as 'Uhura' the standouts. One of the things I really liked about 'Star Trek' was its ability to surprise me. As a long time fan, I stopped being surprised by the TV shows and movies a long time ago. Don't get me wrong, I love all of the shows and movies, but the storytelling became predictable. This film has a few surprises, and it it's clear that JJ Abrams and his production team are not afraid to take chances with 'Star Trek' canon to create a more enjoyable movie for their audience.

I strongly recommend that fans, and non-fans, see this film on the big screen while it's in first release at the cinemas. It's a 'Star Trek' film that's more than just another entry into a long-running film and TV franchise. It's fresh, it adheres to ‘canon' where it needs to, and it's an entirely enjoyable piece of escapist entertainment.