Star Trek XI (2009)
By Nick Manteris · 0 Comments · Leave a Comment
The Star Trek franchise has slowly deteriorated over the years and someone finally decided that it was time for a reboot. (Technically, this version of Star Trek is more of a reimagining, but let’s not complicate matters.) And just in case you weren’t aware: any failing franchise can be rebooted after a few years… think “James Bond,” “Batman” or “Battlestar Galactica.” J.J. Abrams assumes the directorial duties on this mission using a script from his associates, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Abrams previously directed Mission: Impossible III, also written by Kurtzman and Orci. The television show Fringe was co-created by Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman and each of them has written a number of episodes for Fringe as well as a number of episodes for Alias… which was created solely by Abrams. Let’s just say that if creative works were anything like offspring then the projects that these three have worked on would all be misshapen, freakish children.
The opening sequence was obviously designed to play on the emotions of the audience for as long as possible and consequently runs a bit long for a cold open… even though it does give a glimpse of the very beginning of Kirk’s story. Likewise, the car chase scene from the trailer gives a tiny bit of insight into the character to (barely) justify its unnecessary action. The film really excels, however, once they start developing the (new) relationships between (once-familiar) characters. Chris Pine’s portrayal of James T. Kirk is second only to the performance of Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy… who is drastically underused in this film. They also very cleverly use time travel to simultaneously give a completely new perspective while honoring the canon of the original series and this is probably the main reason that the movie has been received so well.
Star Trek isn’t as perfect as you might be led to believe though… once Nimoy is introduced as Spock Prime things begin to falter. (The utterly absurd ice monster scene that was previewed before LOST is actually the start of the decline, but Nimoy’s arrival isn’t far behind that.) The use of flashback exposition (even with a mind-meld) is a cheap and lazy way to explain why the events of the movie are happening and giving someone information from the future has to be against some sort of important directive… unless those types of rules don’t exist in this incarnation of the franchise. Maybe we will find out in the next movie… and – in hopes that they will be toned down for that second installment – the distracting, over-the-top accents of both Chekov and Scotty must also be mentioned.
- Score
- 7/10
The film has a few other minor problems – like the complete blandness of everything Romulan – but these issues are (somewhat) easily overlooked because the characterization is what really makes the story work. For the first time in years, Star Trek is fresh and full of an energy that should keep it going for at least a couple more films… possibly much longer than that.
