Star Trek (2009) reviewed

I don't consider myself a Trekkie.  Don't get me wrong, I did watch my fair share of The Next Generation crew and I have watched some of the movies but I never found them to be things that would dictate and control my life.  And while I watched some of The Original Series, I never really cared for them even though I do like the TOS movies that I've seen, which are II, III and IV, so I didn't really care when I heard that they were rebooting Star Trek.  All the news and the trailers about it made me think of some crappy Teen Show IN SPACE but then I saw the ads and the reviews and the reception from fans which piqued my interest.  Eventually, I got my hands on the DVD and to see whether or not it was actually any good.  So without further delay, let's dig into the new Star Trek.

So since this is a reboot, it tells the story of how the crew from The Enterprise all comes together.  It details how Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock grew up and how their paths would eventually cross while the rest of the crew also comes together piece-by-piece.  In the meantime, a crazy Romulan named Nero has traveled back in time due to some wacky hijinks vowing vengeance against the federation for allowing Romulus to burn from the after effects of a huge supernova, but more specifically Spock...the Nimoy Spock, not the other Spock.

The most surprising thing about this movie is the high quality of acting displayed here.  Christopher Pine really nailed the essence of Captain Kirk without channeling Shatner one bit, except the Kobayashi Maru test but it did work in that scene.  Zachary Quinto is very good as Spock who plays up the Human/Vulcan dilemma to a level that Nimoy never had the opportunity to do.  Karl Urban is fine as McCoy but he's not in the movie long enough to actually make a real lasting impression.  Eric Bana interestingly plays Nero as a drunk most of the time with slurred speech and friendly nature but a few times he does let his evilness show which Bana does do well.  However, he's no Khan or The Borg Queen and he's a pretty forgettable villain.  There's only two main problems with the cast: Chekov and Scotty.  Anton Yelchin plays up the funny Russian accent without adding anything new or interesting and Simon Pegg plays Scotty as Simon Pegg with a Scottish accent.  I like Pegg, but he wasn't Scotty to me.

There is one thing I am starting to look forward in JJ Abram's movies and that is his directing style.  The camera moves in a very urgent manner which is fitting for the story.  The visual effects are amazing since I fully believed that every ship out there was actually there and all the weapon systems actually made sense since I never quite got that part in the past Star Treks.  Abrams also employs the "Space is Silent" a few times with very effective results.  Now, I guess people have been complaining about the amount of lens flares in the film....but I never noticed it, I'm sure that there but I don't really see it as a detriment if it was that invisible to my eyes.

The biggest disappointment with this is the feel of the movie and how it doesn't feel like Star Trek.  I know, you're thinking "You're not a Trekkie, what do you know about the feel of Star Trek?"  That's a very good question, but I have watched enough to know that there's a nice, warm to it.  It's hard to describe but it's like New Car Smell, you know what it is but you can't really describe it.  This movie doesn't have that feel, it felt like they could change the names and it wouldn't matter, the movie would still be the same.  I know, this doesn't make much sense but it felt like just another movie instead of something special.

The bottom line is that this movie is very entertaining.  The acting for the most part can be considered a damn miracle with the exception of Yelchin and Pegg. The visual effects are awesome and the action scenes are pretty pulse-pounding.  The only real flaw is how cold, clinical and non-Star Trek it feels but Your Mileage May Vary on that.  All in all, I liked Star Trek II and First Contact better but it is equal to Star Trek III (Yes, I liked it.  Get over yourself Star Trek Movie Curse) and Star Trek IV as good, inoffensive entertainment.

7/10