Movie review: Star Trek

One of the longest running movie series to date is the Star Trek movies. It started with Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. The movie wasn't too well received by critics and fans but they redeemed themselves with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. So now we are on the 11th movie in the series. This one is directed by J.J. Abrams (Mission: Impossible III and Cloverfield). Now I have to say before I start this review that I am somewhat biased. I have been a Star Trek fan for most of my life. I would not really consider myself a Trekkie as I've never been to a convention and I don't own any costumes. And I tend to prefer the Next Generation TV series but I have enjoyed the original cast movies.

The new movie just titled Star Trek is a reboot of the series. Like what was done for Batman with Batman Begins. We start at the very beginning and see the back story of some of the major characters and that leads us up to James T. Kirk joining Starfleet and winding up on the Enterprise.

I won't go too much into the plot but all of your classic Star Trek characters are there. Of course you have James T. Kirk played by Chris Pine, Spock played by Zachary Quinto who most would know as Syler on Heroes, Karl Urban and Dr. McCoy, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Simon Pegg from Shaun of the Dead and Run Fatboy Run as Scotty, John Cho from the Harold & Kumar movies as Sulu and Anton Yelchin as Chekov. I have to say that a few of the casting choices had me a little uneasy at first like John Cho playing Sulu. But all in all everyone did a good job.

Now the movie's main villain is Nero who is played by Eric Bana. He is roaming the universe searching for someone, I won't say who. But he is willing to kill anyone who gets in his way. Bana plays the part pretty well and he does a good job of fitting into the mold of most Star Trek villains. While he doesn't rank up with ones like Khan he does a pretty good job of holding his own and being a formidable adversary.

Star Trek has been known for action. This movie has plenty of action to go around and the action scenes are done well. Sometimes they are a little frantic but they are fun and exciting and it's always nice to see Kirk kicking some ass. Another big attraction to this movie are the special effects. They are top-notch but the ships and sets still hold that nostalgic Star Trek feel. The only thing is the lighting is a bit different than what you've seen from the series in the past.

Director J.J. Abrams seems to like rooms that are pretty brightly lit. Most of the scenes it seems like the light is coming from one or two sources and at times there is quite a bit of lens flare. This doesn't distract from what's going on but it gives the movie a much different look. Also Abrams is a fan of low and tilted camera angles. Thankfully he doesn't use these too much and what's going on isn't too hard to follow.

The Enterprise this time around has a bit of a different look than before. Aside from the lighting it also has the look of something not too far into the future. The engineering parts of the ship are covered with pipes and valves and metal walkways. It almost makes it look like some kind of ship that you would see today except this one travels through space. The color white is also everywhere instead of the dull gray from the original show.

I mentioned the acting from Eric Bana but I have to say that everyone else did a good job. I agree with what someone said that I had a worry that when I saw Spock I would just feel like I'm watching Syler playing Spock. But Quinto made the character his own and while he didn't play it quite like Nemoy it was a nice take on the younger version of Spock. I think Quinto's performance is the best of the movie, but again the entire cast did a real good job.

Star Trek has also been known for its sense of humor and this movie delivers some good jokes and sight gags. But they don't overshadow the rest of the movie and remind you of something you might have seen from the original series. Also Dr. McCoy is his usual self and delivers some pretty memorable lines.

The music in the movie was also really good. The score really fits the mood of any given scene and doesn't sound like what you've heard in the previous movies. In fact it's not until the end of the movie when you hear the theme that people are so familiar with.

I have heard a lot of people say that this is the best of all of the Star Trek movies. While this movie is good and is one of the best I don't think it is the best of the series. My pick for the best would be Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan but this one ranks up with the best and it also breaks the pattern that the odd numbered ones are usually not as good.

So if you are a fan of Star Trek I don't think I need to tell you to see this movie. But if you aren't familiar with the series this might be a good place to start. Or if you just like a good action movie or a good sci-fi movie you should check this one out.

My score: 8.5/10