Star Trek Review
by Steve Rhodes (steve DOT rhodes AT internetreviews DOT com)May 8th, 2009
STAR TREK
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2009 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): *** 1/2
Director J.J. Abrams (the co-creator of "Lost") has finally released his much anticipated take on the classic "Star Trek" series, which consists of an almost uncountable number of television episodes as well as numerous movies. Before reviewing STAR TREK, I think it behooves me first to admit where I fall in the fan spectrum. I've probably seen most of the movies, as well as many of the original "Star Trek" episodes, but, the original series, which I watched decades ago, made such little impression on me that I've long since forgotten it.
My son Jeffrey, in contrast, is a huge fan who says that he has seen all of the episodes, which he tells me number over seven hundred. Living in a household with such a rabid fan has probably influenced me to be predisposed to like the latest STAR TREK film, which I did, albeit not quite as much as Jeffrey, whose one word review of the film was, "Epic!"
I certainly agree with my big-fan son that the new STAR TREK film, which is a prequel to the other films, is extremely well cast. Although I thought the movie tried too hard to please non-Trekkies by emphasizing the big action sequences too much, especially in the first half, the film was consistently entertaining and the story involving.
I found myself easily drawn into the adventure as Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto, Sylar on "Heroes"), Sulu (John Cho), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy (Karl Urban), Scotty (Simon Pegg) and other crew members of the Starship Enterprise fought Nero (Eric Bana), their excellent new villain.
Don't be surprised if you feel just like me when you leave the theater. I was ready and eager to see my newfound friends in their next space adventure. And, probably the best thing that Abrams accomplished with this film was to breathe new life into the STAR TREK franchise, which some had feared was on its last legs.
The movie is being billed as not "your father's STAR TREK." Well, it certainly was this father's STAR TREK. I found it consistently intriguing, as we meet the young and rebellious James T. Kirk as he enters the Academy. Almost kicked out forever for cheating after he does the impossible by solving Spock's unsolvable problem, Jim eventually makes captain, as people come to realize that he is a risk taker who is smart enough to even outsmart Spock, without the need for cheating.
The movie is best in its moments of character drama and logical reasoning and is least interesting when it only wants to blow something up. Certainly the special effects, as when a planet is transformed into an instant black hole, are spectacular. But, I found I was most drawn into the narrative when the special effects were absent entirely and the characters simply tried to outwit each other. The film is intentionally funny too. In fact, if I had one change to make, I would have included even more of the humor since it is effective.
STAR TREK runs 2:07. It is rated PG-13 for "sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content" and would be acceptable for kids around 7 and up.
My son Jeffrey, age 20, went gaga over it, giving it a full ****. His funniest comment was that all of the fighting in it sometimes made him think that the movie was like STAR WARS crossed with "The O.C." He said that he had a blast and was on the edge of his seat the entire time. He remarked that he had not enjoyed a movie this much in a long time. His only reservation was that he wasn't sure how this story fits into the STAR TREK canon. However, he said that he was absolutely enthralled by it.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, May 8, 2009. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Cinemark theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
Email: [email protected]
***********************************************************************
Want reviews of new films via Email?
Just write [email protected] and put "subscribe" in the subject line.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
