Star Trek Movie Review

MOVIE REVIEW: STAR TREK

05/07/09

SYNOPSIS: From director J.J. Abrams ("Mission: Impossible III," "Lost" and "Alias"), producers Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk and screenwriters Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman ("TRANSFORMERS," "MI: III") comes a new vision of the greatest space adventure of all time, "Star Trek," featuring a young, new crew venturing boldly where no one has gone before.

REVIEW: Spock: Space... the final frontier.

So . . .

Kirk: Buckle up!

Yes ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seat belts, put your trays and chairs in the upright position, and hold on to your arm rests cause this is a ride of a lifetime. Disclaimer 1: this movie is for Trekkies and anybody who at the very least has a passing acceptance for sci-fi movies. In other words, even if you don’t have familiarity with Star Trek, there is a very strong chance that you will still thoroughly enjoy this flick. If you do have familiarity, you seriously do not want to miss this. I do have some familiarity with Star Trek and I can tell you right off the bat that if I could give it more than 5 stars, I would. I do not recall ever seeing a sci-fi movie that almost brought me to tears. Not from sadness mind you, but from joy, satisfaction, and the utter majesty and significance of this story. This is a true prequel to the whole Star Trek concept. This is how it all began, J.J. Abrams style. You know, I had a pretty good idea that he was the man, but now I’m convinced that J.J. is the man. He did a masterful job with such a challenging franchise. After all its history, both on TV and on the big screen, and after all the spin offs and variations and generations, you would think that “another” Star Trek movie would just be overkill. I’m very sorry to disappoint the haters, but this is an incredible, incredible movie and it completely does the franchise justice. I haven’t felt this passionate about a sci-fi flick since the Matrix series (which are my favorite movies of all time, by the way). Do you know what Casino Royale did for the James Bond franchise? Well, this does the same for the Star Trek franchise, only better. Disclaimer 2: I mentioned that I have familiarity with Star Trek but I do not consider myself a Trekkie, therefore, for you Trekkies, you might find some flaws or inconsistencies in how this story is laid out in comparison to the original TV series. I wouldn’t be able to pick them all out so it didn’t bother me one bit. I urge you to do the same and not get too nit picky so as to better enjoy this masterpiece.

From the very beginning of the movie, you are on the ride. It has an awesome opening sequence and the action never stops. It is fast, realistic, futuristic, reminiscent, very human (as opposed to mechanical), sexy, and funny. Overall, it’s an experience. The special effects are superb. They are so realistic that you start to take it for granted. Same goes for the sound effects and music. It is a modern touch to a classic soundtrack that is very well done and very appropriate. At first I had my doubts about the cast for this movie, but after seeing it, my opinion changed by 180 degrees. Starting with Chris Pine as James T. Kirk, I mean who is this guy, right? Well you might at least recognize the actor, and he nailed the role. I think the single most difficult shoes to fill in this story is Leonard Nimoy as Spock. You could argue that no one defines a character or “is” that character as much as Leonard is Spock. Considering all that, Zachary Quinto as Spock does a pretty darn good job. Speaking of Mr. Nimoy, I’m sure you know by now that he does make an appearance in the movie which turns out to be one of the more exciting and emotional moments of the film. As far as other members of the cast: Eric Bana as Nero, a Romulan leader, was strong, check, Karl Urban as Bones was a good imitator, check, Zoe Saldana as Uhura was sexy, check, Simon Pegg as Scotty was very appropriate, check, John Cho as Sulu, check, and Anton Yelchin as Chekov was a blast, check. It was really fun seeing these actors play these most infamous characters. Oh, but I forgot to mention one very important character to this franchise, and she has never looked this good. I’m talking about the most beautiful, iconic, and recognized spaceship in sci-fi history, the Starship Enterprise. As Priscilla pointed out to me, the Enterprise is just as much a character of this show than anybody else. She is so right. Movie fans, I would be surprised if this isn’t one of the biggest movies of this summer. In closing, to use the infamous words of our beloved Spock: Live long, and prosper.