Star Trek by J. J. Abrams (2009)
23 May 2009Now I have to admit that I came into this film really thinking I would hate it, as I am a huge Star Trek fan, and especially a fan of TOS (the original Series) which I grew up watching, and a reboot just sounded like an absolutely awful idea all the way around. And J. J. Abrams did not give me confidence. Now I have not watched LOST, but his Mission Impossible was impossibly bad, and while I do currently really enjoy Fringe, I have heard he was much busier doing Star Trek than working on it. Anyway, After all that I have to say I was quite wrong and did enjoy the film immensely. In fact I saw it twice, taking my wife Kelly to go see it because I wanted to see it again, and have even read the prequel comic. That is not to say that I don’t think it has issues, but it did do very very well in re-igniting the excitement of old Trek, and making the best Trek film they have made in a long time. First the good, the casting. The casting was in fact fantastic and they did mostly really capture the characters (well Chekov may have been a little over the top), but overall the characters were amazing, and who knew that formerly typcast action hero Carl Urban could do a perfect DeForest Kelly imitation, in fact almost a possession. Chris Pine made a very good Kirk (even if they did push his bad boy thing a little too much) and Zachary Quinto even looks like Spock. And the time travel storyline does allow them to create an alternate timeline, so it doesn’t ruin the original, but creates a new one they can play with (personally I would love to see a trilogy of films which start a new TV series, but I doubt that will happen). Of course I do have some issues. While most the sets are great (I love the new bridge), the engineering looks like a bunch of pipes (and was filmed in the nearby Budweiser plant). And while the main uniforms look like the old ones, many are not too impressive, and I hate the look of the new silver phasers, the original series ones had much more style. Then there are continuity issues. Like the fact that in TOS each ship had it’s own symbol on the uniform and it wasn’t till the movies that Starfleet starting using the well known Enterprise symbol as the star fleet symbol. We know they did not build the Enterprise on Earth, but in space, and it was not the flagship (which was the original of it’s class the Constitution NCC-1700). And we know for sure this was not the original crew of the Enterprise. yes Pike was the Captain, but he had a female first officer, Number One, and Spock was the science officer. We had a different doctor, and even when Kirk joined it was with a different Doctor on the Enterprise and Lt. Kelso in engineering, and Chekov didn’t join till the second season (which of course means he should not have met Khan in the old films either). Then there is the tech stuff which always have to not think too hard about with Star Trek, but in this why do you need to make a hole to the planet core to destroy a planet with a black hole? Why not just drop it on the surface? And then the score was perfectly unmemorable and really did not have the Star Trek theme until the end credits. Still as I said I did really love the film, and certainly want it on Blu-Ray. This is a must see, even if I am really sick of films shot in hand held, and didn’t realize lens were broken in the future (must be why there are so many damn lens flares).
In 2283, the USS Kelvin, a starship in the united Federation of planets runs into a strange electrical storm in space, and reports it to Star Fleet. Out of the storm comes a strange, and huge Romulan ship, the Narada, which is from 154 years in the future, and easily defeats the Kelvin and demands that Captain Robau (Faran Tahir) comes over in a shuttle craft. Robau agrees, and turns command of the Kelvin over to George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth), telling him to run if he can, and to abandon the ship to save the crew. Robua is brought over to the Narada where he is question about a strange starfleet vessel and Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and when he tells the stardate, the Captain of the Nirada, Nero (Eric Bana) kills him. Kirk orders the crew to abandon ship, including his wife Winona (Jennifer Morrison from House) who is in labor, and he plans to set the ship on auto pilot, but when the auto pilot does not function, he stays on the ship and pilots it into the Narada, telling his wife he loves her and helping to name their son James Tiberius Kirk, as he badly damages the Alien ship.
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…
On Vulcan we see young Spock (Jacob Kogan) getting teased for being half human, and fighting back, and talking to his father Sarek (Ben Cross) about his path.
On Earth we see the young reprobate James T. Kirk (Jimmy Bennett) stealing a classic, car and running it off a cliff when chased by a cop.
Years later on Vulcan, we see grown up Spock (Zachary Quinto) being doted on by his human mother Amanda Grayson (Winona Ryder) and then going in front of the Vulcan Council which includes his father Ambassador Sarek. We learn that Spock passed perfectly and will be allowed into the Vulcan Science Acadamy, but they question why he also applied to Starfleet, and when they talk down to him because he is half human, he declines, and goes to join starfleet.
Back on Earth Kirk (Chris Pine) has grown up to be even more a reprobate and in a bar, he hits on a Starfleet Academy Student named Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and gets in a fight with her 4 friends, and gets the tar beat out of him, and it is only stopped by the arrival of Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood). Pike studied George Kirk for his dissertation, and he challenges Kirk to join starfleet and become an officer in 4 years.
The next day at the Shuttle launch, Kirk shows up and joins up saying he will be an officer in 3 years. On the shuttle he sees Uhura, and meets another student, the older Doctor, Leanord McCoy (Karl Urban) who is scared to fly, and explains that he lost the planet in the divorce, and all he has is his old bones, earning him his nickname.
Kirk tells McCoy he will be taking the Kobayashi Maru command test a third time, and wants McCoy to be there the next day.
3 years later Kirk is womanizing, and learns that Uhura received a strange message from Klingon that sounds like the incident where the Kelvin was destroyed.
Kirk takes the test, and is nonchalant, eating an apple, and something happens to the simulator during the rescue, and is able to win the no win scenario, with no losses. The instructors ask the programer, Spock how he could beat it.
The next day Kirk is up for a possible court marshal for cheating, accused by Spock, but before he can defend himself, and emergency on Vulcan comes up, and since the fleet is elsewhere, the cadets are mobilized.
We see Uhura given another ship by Spock, but since they are in a relationship convince him to give her Enterprise where he is Science office and First Officer. McCoy also gets Enterprise, but Kirk is unassigned because he is on academic probation. McCoy has a plan though, and gives Kirk an injection to make him sick, so he can bring him on the Enterprise.
On the ship, they are preparing to go, with a new helmsmen, Hikaru Sulu (John Sulu) and the 17 year old Navigator Chekhov (Anton Yelchin). Chekov makes an announcement about an electrical storm at Vulcan, which Kirk hears, and Sulu screws up the launch, so the Enterprise leaves last.
Kirk hears the message, and realizes it is just like the Kelvin, and goes to find Uhura about her Klingon message, with McCoy in tow because Kirk is having an allergic reaction to the treatment.
Kirk gets to the bridge and tells Pike it is a Romulan trap, and Spock wants to throw him in the brig, but what he says makes sense, and when they arrive, they find the other ships all destroyed and the Nirada about to drill into Vulcan.
When Nero sees it is the Enterprise with Spock on it, he doesn’t destroy it, but calls for Pike to come over as a prisoner in a shuttle craft. Pike gets Sulu, Kirk and Spock to go with him, and makes Spock Captain and Kirk first officer. He then gets Kirk, Sulu and a third guy to suite up with bombs to parachute from the shuttle and destroy the drill, while he is taken captive.
The 3 go down, but the 3rd guy holds too long on his parachute, and misses with the bombs, so Kirk and Sulu are on the drill, and first must fight off Romulans before destroying the drill, but Sulu falls and his chute is broken, so Kirk dives after him, but his chute breaks too. The transporter chief can’t make the lock, so Checkov runs down and just manages to get Kirk and Sulu.
Nero drops a red matter bomb into the planet, so Vulcan will be eaten by a black hole, and has only minutes, so Spock beams down to save the council and his parents, though Amanda his mother is not saved.
The Enterprise manages to get away, and is going to head to rendezvous with the fleet, while Kirk wants to follow the Nirada to Earth and try and stop it, and Spock ends up having him kicked off the ship.
Kirk is marooned on the Ice planet Delta Vega, where after being chased by some creatures he finds Ambassador Spock, who mind melds with him to show him the future. Spock was in an advanced ship trying to use the Red Matter to save Romulus from a supernova, but was too late, and was attacked by the grief stricken Nero, and both ships were sucked into the black hole, but the Nirada was first, and was sent back 20 years earlier, running into the Kelvin. Spock just came through and was taken by Nero along with his ship and the Red Matter, and marooned so he could watch Vulcan’s destruction and feel just like Nero.
Kirk and Spock head to the Federation outpost and meet Montgomery Scott (Simon Pegg) who was posted there for beaming Admiral Archer’s dog into nothingness. Spock tells him he will create transwarp beaming, which allows beaming into a ship at warp, and shows him the formula, and sends Kirk and Spock to the Enterprise. Kirk must make Spock show he is emotionally unfit for command so Kirk can take over and go after the Nirada, and does not let Kirk tell Spock of his older self so noting bad will happen.
Kirk and Scotty make it to the Enterprise, though Scotty ends up in a water coolant pipe, and must be saved by Kirk. They are taken by security to the bridge. Kirk confronts Spock, and makes him attack him, which means he loses command, and Kirk as First Officer takes over.
Kirk orders the ship after the Nirada, and makes a plan with Spock to keep the Enterprise hidden and beam over to get Pike, and Ambassador Spock’s ship.
The 2 end up in a firefight, but find Spock’s ship, and Spock realizes something is strange as the ship recognizes him.Spock takes the ship, while Kirk goes and gets Pike. Spock attacks the Nirada, and almost killed, except the Enterprise saves them, and Spock sets a collision course, using the red matter to destroy the Nirada, and Kirk, Spock and Pike are beamed to safety, and get away from the black hole with some quick thinking by Scotty.
Back at Earth Kirk is given a medal, and command of Enterprise from Admiral Pike.
Spock and Ambassador Spock meet, and Spock tells him he is planning on leaving Starfleet to help the 10,000 remaining Vulcans rebuild. Ambassador Spock tells him he can be in 2 places at once, so he should stay where he is needed, and explains he lied to Kirk about telling him about older Spock so he could show the two of them how well they work together, and allow them to become friends.
On the Enterprise Spock comes on board and asks to be considered for First Officer, and Kirk makes him First officer. And the crew is together.
••••
Really an enjoyable film, and I have seen it twice now. I hope they do an extended cut on Blu-ray, because this is a great re-boot for Star Trek, and I would love to see a new show made out of this.
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