Movie Review: Star Trek (2009)

Movie Review: Star Trek (2009)

Just watched the latest Star Trek which chronicles the beginning of the legend of Captain James T. (Tiberius) Kirk and his iconic crew. Was not as enthused to go and watch it as I had imagined I would have been. Am glad I did. Was a surprise and much better than expected.

I went with no conception of the story plot and expected to see the "Fat Boy" (aka James T Kirk; less well known as William Shatner) appear. But that was not to be. However his younger version did very well indeed.

Chris Pine, who appeared in the role of the young James T. Kirk did a remarkably good job. As did the rest of the young Star Trek crew. The most outstanding and remarkable part of this show (for me) was that they had new faces appear as substitutes for iconic, beloved faces in the guise of the younger selves of these long-standing icons. I expected at the very least, some derogatory comparison or some faint irritation with the substitutes standing in the shadow of such large shoes. However, the casting crew of this movie Star Trek, did a remarkable job as did the actors.

Without seemingly trying to pander to the tenacious grip of ardent fans, these actors stepped into their roles without overt and often futile mimicry of the original stars. They performed the miracle of being fully assimilatable and acceptable as the younger selves of the legendary stars so much so that one could immerse oneself fully into the story and not into the on-going negative comparison of mis-portrayed characterizations.

What is also remarkable, to a lesser extent and maybe as a result of how full acceptable these young actors moved into the roles of their predecessors, is the fact that despite the license they took in tweaking some (seemingly unnecessary) parts of the Star Trek legend, it did not grate as much as a semi-Trekkie like myself would have expected. One of these tweaks was the where-did-that-come-from romance between the character of Nyota Uhura (played by Zoe Saldana) and the young Spock (played by Zachary Quinto). Why this imaginary romance that was never part of the lore of Star Trek was necessary in this movie is beyond me and all I can say in its defense is that it did not harm the movie itself.

Leonard Nimoy also made an appearance (one would almost call it cameo as it was too brief for true Trekkie fans) but with Mr Nimoy and his unrivalled portrayal of the one-and-only true Vulcan Spock, it is always a pleasure to see him on screen.

Not to end this review on a bad note but rather a cautionary one: one should not dissect the storyline overly much. That the supreme villain of the piece was some disgruntled mining person who then unbelievably managed to build some super-technology and gather a forminable crew and go back in time to destroy Spock's home planet and with further designs and ability to destroy the federation truly begets imagination. If there is one main weak point in the movie, it would be this intellectually big black hole in the storyline. That aside, the time distortions and time overlaps found in the storyline is rather intriguing.

Summary of Star Trek (2009)

Definitely worth a watch. The unexpected smooth blending of the young actors in the roles now solidified by fans, time, and accolades is more than worth the experience.