Star Trek

I feel like I've been waiting my entire life for a Star Trek film that I really loved. My introduction to the universe and the characters was through the odd episode of the Original Series that I caught on TV, and the films in the series that my parents owned on VHS tape (The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home), but I never really fell in love with those characters, or with the Original Series as a whole. It was just too silly, and dated, by that point to really enjoy on more than a casual level.

It was The Next Generation that really got me into Star Trek. It could be just as silly, and now 20 years later, it feels just as dated, but at the time it was new and shiny. I can clearly remember watching, as a four year old, a first season episode ("Conspiracy") of The Next Generationand being simultaneously entranced and horrified as Picard and Riker destroy a Starfleet officer infested by malevolent parasites. It's still one of my clearest memories from my early childhood, and I'm still a little bit terrified of parasites that take control of your brain.

But The Next Generation wasn't close to being my favorite of the Star Trek series (though it did produce one of the best movies, First Contact), that honor was reserved for Deep Space Nine. Out of anything in the Trek canon, the latter seasons of Deep Space Ninecome the closest to something I love. The characters, and their relationships are more real, more complex. Things don't always work out for the best. People die, are traumatized, and feel real pain. But there's still the optimistic core that's at the heart of every incarnation of Trek.

I never felt that same connection with either the last two series (Voyager and Enterprise) or movies (Insurrection and Nemesis). They were uninteresting, bland, often terrible versions of the universe. Moralizing a plenty, with consequences for the characters few and far between. I was actually somewhat glad to see the series take a break after the cancellation of Enterprise in 2005. The same old take on Star Trek felt tired, and not particularly contemporary.

With the Trek fanbase in a general sense of malaise J.J. Abrams and his writing team (Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman) took on the monumental task of rebooting the series, while still remaining true to the feel of the Original Series. They had to fill the franchise with a sense of energy, and excitement that had been missing for years. I think that with Star Trek they were wildly successful.

Using time travel as a device, Star Trekcreates an entirely separate timeline and, more importantly, continuity, freeing it from the decades of established canon. Nero (Eric Bana), an angry, tattooed Romulan bent on revenge is flung back in time where he attacks the U.S.S. Kelvin. This attack flings George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth) into command of the Kelvin, as he sacrifices himself to save the crew, including his wife, and newly born son James Tiberius Kirk. The destruction of the Kelvin is a touchstone event, shifting the familiar timeline into something new and different. James T. Kirk, without the influence of his father becomes a cocky, angry young man (Chris Pine) that races through the Iowa farm country, and brawls with Starfleet cadets in bars. One such fight brings the young Kirk to the attention of Starfleet captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood), who recruits him to join up, and attend Starfleet Academy.

Across the galaxy, on the planet Vulcan, another angry young man, half-human, half-Vulcan Spock (Zachary Quinto) battles his emotions, trying desperately to fit in. Not finding the acceptance he craves on Vulcan, he enlists in Starfleet. Which is where he first comes into conflict with cadet Kirk. Their differences in personalities clash, leading to an intense rivalry that would only get worse as they, along with cadets McCoy (Karl Urban) and Uhura (Zoe Saldana) are sent aboard the Federation's newest flagship, the Enterprise on a mission responding to an attack on the planet Vulcan. This group of young officers has to find a way to protect the Federation from Nero, and his ship, the Narada.

The time travel storyline saves the film from the problems that are normally associated with prequels. Instead of knowing exactly where things are headed, there's a whole new potential future laid out. It isn't really a prequel to the Original Series, even if that's where it's placed on the timeline. It's a sequel to the Next Generation with its beginnings in the episode "Reunification" andcontinued through the comic book series, Star Trek: Countdown. None of which is necessary to enjoy this film. It plays just as well to those with no knowledge of Trek as it does to the fans that know the entire storyline.

There's something very exciting about seeing these young, pretty, versions of the characters we know encounter each other for the first time. Seeing Kirk hit on Uhura in a bar, trying desperately to find out her first name, or seeing when Kirk and Bones first meet on the shuttle to Starfleet Academy (including finding out the origin of the name "Bones") is a thrill. We've neverseen how these characters became a cohesive crew, they were always just presented that way. And for those that have no prior association with the characters, they get to start from scratch.

This balance is played out throughout the entire film, working in moments for the fans (like a tribble, or a green Orion woman) in the midst of an extremely well paced action film. It seemed that I noticedthings were slowing down forexposition, thatan actionset piece would be coming right up. Abrams has alwayshad atalent forpacing the actionwithin a story, while still developing the characters(see Mission: Impossibe III for a great example of this), and he doesn't disappoint here. The action is spectacular, giving the space battles an urgency, and style that's never been seen in a Trek film before. This new Enterprise moves like the behemoth that it is, while packing an array of weaponry that would blow away almost any enemy. The opening battle between the Kelvin and the Narada is so exciting that it would make a great climax for most films.

But it isn't in the action that I really love the film for. It's for the characters, and the performances. Chris Pine creates a Kirk that's very different from Shatner's take, but still feels true to the character. He's cocky, verging on arrogant, angry and rebellious. It's a Kirk with rough edges that is either a love him, or hate him, proposition. His interactions with Zachary Quinto's conflicted, emotional Spock are genius. This Spock isn't the nearly emotionless Spock of Leonard Nimoy. His emotions are very much there, just contained beneath the surface, only bursting to the surface occasionally. There's a moment with the Vulcan council where Quinto delivers a line, that we've heard a thousand times before, but never with the edge of anger and rebelliousness beneath the surface that he gives it. It's a brilliant performance.

Even the supporting cast has their own unique takes on the characters. Karl Urban does a spot on impression of DeForest Kelley's McCoy, while still giving it his own personal touches. Zoe Saldana's Uhura is smart, strong and sexy. She holds her own in every interaction with Kirk and Spock, occasionally even getting the upper hand. Simon Pegg was an inspired choice as Scottty. He brings his unique sense of humor to the part, stealing almost every scene that he's in. Even the characters with the least to do, John Cho's Sulu and Anton Yelchin's Chekov have their personality quirks, from Yelchin's imitation of Walter Koening's thick Russian accent to Cho's deadpan Sulu. It seems that everyone has something to bring to the film.

I'm not saying that it's perfect by any stretch of the imagination. The plot is ridiculous, and a little over complicated. Dialogue has never been Orci and Kurtzman's strong suit, and this is no exception. There was a long stretch of exposition in the middle of the film that ground things to a halt for a little while, plus the whole CGI ice monster chase felt a little unnecessary. I'd liked to have seen Nero given a little more character development (though, the prequel comic series does a great job of this). But I still think it's a great film that sets the universe up for years to come. I can't wait to see what they do next. I love this film.

Grade: A