angelophile | It's Trek, Jim, but not as we know it...

Just back from seeing Star Trek.

What did I think?

Firstly, I'll state that my expectations for the movie were average. I'm not a huge Trek fan, I like some elements, but I'm nothing like a Trekkie. The screenplay is by my chum Roberto Orci and his screen writing partner Alex Kurtzman, responsible for the script for Transformers. I'm on file on stating how... uneven I found that movie.

So... despite promises of epic space battles, my hopes were only as high as expecting an average sci-fi romp with big set pieces.

Let's start by stating one thing - Bob stated that the new movie wasn't a reboot of continuity - that is untrue. It is. It's a huge reboot. However, instead of simply skimming over differences in continuity, the movie launches the new direction by making the changes the very crux of the plot and referring to them constantly.

The movie opens with a bang and in ten minutes has demonstrated to the writers of Generations exactly how a Captain Kirk is meant to go out - not falling off a cliff, but in an epic space battle, all guns blazing, to the accompaniment of tears from distraught lovers. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you start a movie.

And the pace rarely lets up. The movie is an almost orgasmic mix of climax after climax, set piece after set piece, but with the benefit that, unlike Transformers, the action serves the plot rather than vice versa.

So, what of the cast? Well, the writers had an easier task in some respects - an established and well defined group of characters to draw from, all rich. Firstly, much credit must go to Karl Urban, who, from the first moment he appears on screen utterly nails Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy. He's a sheer joy every time he's on screen, provided with dialogue riffed from the original series and with a delivery to match. Anton Yelchin's Chekov stands out, making an equally favourable impression, given plenty of moments to both shine and riff on the character. The pair are a fangasm waiting to happen. Slightly less successful is Simon Pegg's Scotty, who milks every bit of comedy from the role but never quite clicks as being the same Montgomery Scott, a little too manic and apparently raised in a different part of Scotland entirely. John Cho's Sulu is all action hero that George Takei is no doubt proud of. Zoe Saldana's Uhura was given a little more to do and did the best with what she had but, sadly, suffered a little in the sausagefest and was all too often relied on to play love interest or strut around in her pants. But she did what she could.

So, what of the main players? Zachary Quinto has obviously received credit for looking the part and much of the time nails the role of Spock too. He comes unstuck slightly later in the movie when he... well, not to put too fine a point on it, he's left to confront the legacy he's inheriting and the fact that it's not a flawless impression becomes evident. However, he does his best to make the role his own.

As does Chris Pine as James T. Kirk. A man who has big big shoes to fill. I'm not sure whether it's to his credit or not that he doesn't try to. Although the character has plenty of James Tiberius moments, he doesn't really riff on Shatner's distinctive delivery or style, instead simply playing the role as he would play it. It takes balls but, in some ways, it's slightly disappointing that the new and old Kirks aren't unified.

However, Pine makes the role his own and by the end of the movie he's enough Kirk for anyone. This was one of the very few movies, I think the ONLY one, where I heard an average British audience applaud as the credits came up. I can think of little better praise and there's no doubt director J.J. Abrams did a sterling job, being both respectful to the original series, putting aside the political and "social workers in space" aspects of the later series to focus on the characters and the shirt ripping, alien snogging, space battling Star Trek that made the Wrath of Khan the best in the series.

Does this movie surpass that? I wouldn't like to say. I'd need some distance, but a few flaws aside (I could certainly have done without Kirk's wandering and big hands while trying for humour), this movie surpassed expectations and shows what a franchise reboot can look like.