Star Trek: Review

I am always slightly worried when a previous past success gets a 're-invention', as they like to call it in Hollywoodland. Some work, like Batman and others don't, like Wolverine (although that is more a prequel). So entering into a 'how it all began' with Star Trek was both exciting and yet nerve-wrecking. Years of watching the TV show as a child (although not obsessively) and having followed all the movies, could this possibly match the days of Shatner, Nimoy and co? A hefty chance for producer/director J.J. Abrams, especially with something that has the most loyal fans of all. Well I am happy to say that it works, and works very well indeed.

The film throws us into the action almost immediately and doesn't stop for the full 2 hours of its run. We find out about how James T. Kirk came into being, and how the rebel rose through the ranks at Starfleet command. We see the difficulties Spock had being part human, part Vulcan. We see the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise on their very first mission, and even though they are not the familiar faces that many were bought up with, these are the characters that we know and love.

Chris Pine makes for a decent Kirk, with his boyish good looks, while Zachary Quinto could have been Lenoard Nimoy's son, he looks and acts so much like him. The rest of the cast fit into the crew very nicely, and if there was a weak spot, then Simon Pegg would be it, even though he is fine, he is given the comic buffoon role as Scotty and it doesn't quite sit right. Having said that, there are elements of nicely placed comedy within a complex yet intriguing plot that is both exciting and suspense-filled, and you genuinely feel that Arbams has got it all right, even when the original films didn't. This is like watching an expended, more expensive episode of the show.

The special effects are incredible, the pace is unstoppable and it's all nicely coated with a huge dollop of fun, and if I may be so bold, this is the best Star Trek movie since The Wrath Of Khan. So grab yourself a huge bag of popcorn and a drink and spend two hours being taken on the best space adventure since Serenity. And I cannot wait for the next film.

Now this is what I call a summer blockbuster!