 | STARRING: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto |
I fell in love with Star Trek when the Next Generation series hit the air. With no current Star Trek series on TV, I was looking forward to the next Star Trek movie in order to follow the further adventures of the Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, or Voyager cast. Imagine my disappointment when I read that the new Star Trek movie was going to be a prequel, dealing with how the original series characters met each other. WTF? Roddenbury created such an amazing universe with almost infinite possibilities and they are going to limit themselves by going backwards? I was very upset and disappointed. I walked into the screening with no expectations, thinking about what could have been…
Star Trek opens with an angry Romulan from the future named Nero going back in time and changing the Star Trek universe forever by attacking a Federation starship. On that ship was Kirk’s father, who does not survive. By the time this battle is done, I had already forgotten my disappointment and was completely drawn in to the movie. James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) grows up as an extremely smart, but angry and rebellious kid in Iowa. A chance encounter with a few Starfleet cadets, one of whom is the beautiful Uhura (Zoe Saldana), leads to a conversation with Captain Pike. Pike goads Kirk into enlisting into Starfleet to continue the legacy of his father.
Meanwhile, on Vulcan… Spock has been teased since he was a child about being half human. This makes it more difficult to control his emotions, but Spock chooses to live life as a Vulcan and prove that being half human is not a weakness. As a young adult, Spock becomes the first Vulcan to decline acceptance into Vulcan’s most prestigious institution to enlist in Starfleet.
Spock is already an officer on the USS Enterprise, when newly graduated cadets Dr. McCoy and Uhura are assigned to the Enterprise. Kirk is not assigned to any ship, thanks to his suspected cheating on the infamous Kobayashi Maru test that was programmed by Spock. McCoy sneaks Kirk onto the ship as it heads to face Nero. Once on board, Kirk can not be a silent bystander. He challenges Captain Pike and Spock at every turn as the Enterprise speeds towards a possble confrontation with Nero. Kirk is convinced that they are headed for an ambush, and he turns out to be right.
Nero is out for revenge for something Spock has done in the future. The planet Vulcan ends up being completely destroyed by a weapon Nero brought from the future, Captain Pike is captured, and Earth is the next target. Luckily, the future Spock (still played by Leonard Nimoy) has followed Nero from the future to help set things right. Kirk and Spock must learn to put aside their differences and work together in order to save Earth.
Star Trek has everything you could ask for from a Star Trek film. It has stellar special effects, memorable action scenes, humor, character development, and a great villain. The cast does an amazing job of reminding you of the original characters while at the same time making the characters their own. Nothing that you would want in a Star Trek prequel is left out. We finally get to see the Kobayshi test, we learn how Kirk’s and Spock’s childhoods affected their adult personalities, and we see how they met Uhura, McCoy, Sulu, Scotty and Chekov. We even learn how McCoy got the nickname “Bones”. Leonard Nimoy’s role is much more than a simple cameo. Everything comes together perfectly at the end. I went into the theater not wanting to learn anything more about the original cast of characters, and I left the theater eagerly awaiting the further adventures of these characters. If only every prequel could be this good. Wolverine did a good job of opening up the summer movie season, but Star Trek ups the ante. It’s a great film that surpassed all of my expectations. See this one opening weekend, even if you don’t consider yourself a Star Trek fan. There is not one dull moment in the film and anyone who enjoys summer action movies should enjoy Star Trek. This is now the best Star Trek film ever made. I'd still like to see the further adventures of the Next Generation characters some day as well.
1 comment:
I dare say this new Capt. James T. Kirk is a more accurate embodiment of all that is Capt. James T. Kirk (better than the original)
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