star trek

Star Trek (2009)
directed by J. J. Abrams
***1/2

I'll be brief: I always thought Star Trek was laughable (even though it was so strange and compelling that I've seen a couple dozen episodes). I could tell it was doing something political with all of its fake races and its cerebral posturing through bizarre adventures that seemed relentless in their arrival. When do these people use the restroom, really? It always felt too niche and nerdy for me. Not in 2009.

Abrams' new film reinvents the franchise, much as Christopher Nolan did for Batman and as Daniel Craig did for Bond. I've admitted elsewhere that I'm not a fan of LOST (though I've tried), but I have recognized Abrams' talent before through other venues such as Mission: Impossible 3 and Cloverfield. Star Trek helps me see him as the budding talent he truly is. He successfully created an environment that was future, but not so future that it was obviously just an excuse for some geek to show off his geeky inventions. Abrams created characters who were real, interesting, un-cardboard, who (like Bond) could get hurt or endangered. Even Spock was truly interesting, which is quite a feat. His plot was interesting and clever, and not so outlandish that it needed to use its genre as an excuse. The oddities of the TV series (the costumes, the strange beings, the fake effects) easily recede into the background of a much more polished environment, plot and set of truly impressive effects.

It's not a brilliant film, but it was wonderfully enjoyable with no flat after-taste. I've heard there may be political dimensions to the film as well, with Kirk as GW Bush and Spock as Obama. It may be, but in my opinion, Abrams has made a new vision of this enterprise that will well outlast the current presidency. Lets just hope he has the sense to keep other writers/directors' mitts off the sequels.

Comments

[Danny]

I agree with your rating on this film. The only thing that's keeping it from being a 4 star film for me was the lack of true drama. I never really felt that the main characters were in any real danger, but that is a very common characteristic for prequels. There is a lot of time devoted to introducing the main characters, that the villain sometimes gets the short end of the stick.

I really think this is a star making performance from Chris Pine.