Reimagined but not reinvented. Star Trek delivers.

Posted by Shane Woodward, on May 12, 2009

I've mentioned before that I am a big Star Trek fan. I've always been more of a fan of the post-90s Star Trek, and while I've seen every episode of the original series numerous times, it never managed to earn the affection that I had for Enterprise and Voyager. That's not to say that I don't appreciate the original series (TOS) for what it was: a revolutionary idea that was executed on a near shoe-string budget at a time where viewers were prepared to suspend disbelief for the sake of entertainment.

When I first heard that the new Star Trek movie would be a throwback to the TOS days, I had concerns and reservations. I know that the Star Trek franchise had grown stagnant, and that the moral heavy, science-centric shows that I loved really don't appeal to a mainstream audience, so from a money-making perspective, the new movie makes sense. The question plagued me was, while the film would no doubt appeal to a much broader audience than before, would it still appeal to me? Even walking into the theatre last night, I was nervous, anxious, and completely prepared to be let down.

I wasn't.

The film was far from perfect, and at times I had to suppress the Trek nerdling in me, and remind myself that certain liberties would have to be taken to allow the film to achieve its goal of capturing a mainstream audience (making lots of money). Liberties and creative license aside, J.J. Abrams has brilliantly crafted which manages to pay homage to the 60's TOS, all in a way that is much more believable that the original series ever was.

The biggest part of making this move feel real and believable (as much as any Star Trek or futuristic sci-fi movie can) was finding the right cast. While TOS never delivered quality acting, what it did deliver was culture icons, and big shoes to fill for anyone attempting to assume the roles of these sci-fi legends.

Captain Kirk

My biggest beef with Shatner's Kirk was that he wasn't believable. Not until the motion pictures, particularly Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, did he even feel truly human. For the most part, he seemed arrogant for the sake of being arrogant, reckless for the sake of recklessness. It could have been very easy for Chris Pine to fall onto the same trap with Kirk. On the whole, I think Pine's portrayal of Kirk was the most pleasant surprise of the movie. For a relative nobody on the Hollywood scene, Pine masterfully recreates the nuances of Kirk's (Shatner's) character, all in a much more believable way than TOS ever did. Yes, he's still arrogant, but he has reason to be. Yes, he's still reckless, but it all makes sense. Chalk some of it up to the fact that this movie features a younger, more troubled Kirk that the 60's series, but simply put, we owe the majority of it to a brilliantly balanced bit of acting from Pine.

Spock

This was the most hyped roll leading up to the launch of the movie. Most reviews of the move that I have read really focus on Zachary Quinto's recreation of Spock (ignoring the performance of Pine). Don't get me wrong, he was good, but there was something that just didn't feel right. It might seem like I'm nit-picking, but for me, it was his voice that spoiled it for me. This probably wouldn't have been a big deal had is performance not been constantly juxtaposed with that of Leonard Nimoy throughout the movie. Nimoy just has one of those unique voices that defines the role as much as any other quality. Where as Pine sounded just like you'd imagine a young Kirk sounding, Quinto just sounded weird. Voice issues aside, Quinto managed to give Spock a good deal of depth, providing insight into his struggle between living up to his Vulcan heritege, and controlling his Human emotions. Watching him turn Spock's signature "live long and prosper" in a not-so-subtle "STFU" was one of the highlights of the movie.

Everyone Else

Leonard "Bones" McCoy: Karl Urban exceeded my expectations. I like Karl, but didn't see him as a good fit. Completely proved me wrong.

Hikaru Sulu: John Cho was just meh. But then again, this character has always been just meh.

Pavel Checkov: Anton Yelchin's recreation was simply too over the top for my liking. Purely comic relief.

Nyota Uhura: By far the worst part of the movie. It's not so much Zoe Saldana's acting as it is what the writers have done with the character. On the original show she was mostly a parrot. In this movie she was mostly a tramp. And the relationship with Spock... WTF? Fail.

Montgomery "Scotty" Scott: Again, it felt over the top for me. Most people think it's brilliant, and I'm sure it helps bring in the mainstream dollars, but I honestly had a hard time feeling that Simon Pegg's Scotty was anything more than comic releage. Sort of like hobbits Merry and Pippen in the Lord of the Rings movies. Maybe it's just the overdone accent, but I just couldn't buy into this role.

What would have made it better for me

I would have liked to see more subtle tie-in to the most recent series, Enterprise, which really sets the stage for the birth of the Federation. Great job for making the Archer reference while introducing Scotty, but I think that there was room to do this more without complicating things. While Enterprise was an underperformer in the mainstream (mostly due to bad timing), it is still my favourite series of the franchise, and the one that felt the most real. I'm not saying that there should have been cameos, or roles created for the Enterprise cast, but there was opportunity to make a few more historical references that could have strenghtened the plot somehwhat. Spock could have made a reference to T'Pol, and the precidence that she set in her involvement with Starfleet. Even Uhura could have made some sort of exo-linguistic tie-in to Hoshi Sato. Something. Anything.

In a nutshell

I give it a 9/10. Doing this movie was clearly a gamble, but one that I am sure will pay off. They did more than enough to keep the existing trek fanbase happy, while offering something of blockbuster proportions that should appeal to new fans. Abrams didn't reinvent the franchise, but he definitely gave it some sex appeal. It's a movie that's filled with killer action, clever wit, and breathes new life into Star Trek. Hopefully the next movie (and there will be a next. I won't throw out any real spoilers, but there really HAS to be a sequel) will address some of my small concerns with the flick.

Trekkie or not, go see this movie.