Star Trek Review

The Star Trek franchise has been alive for over forty-five years and through all of the various incarnations: Star Trek The Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Space Nice, Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, as well as nine motion pictures, I have been an eager and loyal fan.    

The latest Star Trek spin-off, Star Trek: Enterprise only lasted a short while before being canceled due to low ratings in 2005 and Paramount needed to jumpstart concept lest it fade from American popular culture.  Enter Star Trek directed by adrenaline junky JJ Abrams and staring a cast of (virtual) young unknowns.         

The Story-Line

This Star Trek the movie once again explores the oft-misunderstood and frequently filmed world of time travel.  The movie explores the birth of the legend that will become James T. Kirk in the Star Trek universe.   The baddies are once again the Romulans, or in this case one Romulan in particular, named Nero portrayed by Eric Bana.  Nero, who captains an advanced mining ship, is out to avenge the destruction of his home world Romulus some 129 years in the future.  The Spock of the future portrayed by Leonard Nimoy, promised to stop said destruction by a super nova by using a substance called red matter, but he was too late, the planet was destroyed and Nero blames Spock.        

My Viewpoint  

Screen writer's Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman penned a genuinely (mostly) smart script. Woven throughout Star Trek are little nuggets of the past designed to draw in old fans like myself, yet appeal to a whole new generation of viewers. 

There were notable holes in the script, however, like how a ship designed for mining in deep space is able to find off whole fleets of warships, Federation and Klingon and live to destroy whole planets. I did not like the cloak of invincibility ala the Borg.  Nor did I find it particularly believable that the Vulcan's would have proved unworthy of the task of protecting themselves.  Please!       

Abrams for his part, as he is wont to do, as is his trademark, keeps the action moving swiftly.  Star Trek packs more action and effects onto the screen than any previous endeavors.   But, this is where the move also falls short of the mark.  So concerned is Abrams with moving at a oft-break-neck pace, and introducing all the familiar elements that there is scarce time for a real (human) story that conveyed any of the thoughtful ideas that creator Gene Roddenberry made such an integral part of the original series.

No doubt if this were the first iteration of the (Star Trek) story on film it would not enjoy the cult following of its 1960's namesake, but as a new edition to the existing well-established franchise, it is a fun, exhilarating, and fresh body of entertainment.