Star Trek Movie Review... 8 stars out of 5!!

GODS, what a good movie. I mean, I could just write that sentence for the next few paragraphs. Everything about it was great -- the characters, the acting, the action, the special effects, the one-liners, all of it.

If you're a Trekkie concerned about [whatever], just stop all that silly nonsense and go see the movie. [No spoilers until after the jump...]

They totally explain the subtle (and not-so-subtle) divergence from the Star Trek Canon. At this point, they can do whatever they want with the upcoming movies and it will be ok (trust me).
Every scene where you are introduced to the original characters is electrifying.
When the first shot of the Enterprise 1701 came on screen, I shed a tear. She's an important character in the film and story and she's great in a bitch fight. She really gets a chance to clean her claws.
The action is great. More importantly, it carries the film forward, and never seemed pretentious, extravagant or unnecessary.
You get to know James Tiberius Kirk, and you know why he's the kind of guy that he is.
The magical friendship between Spock and Kirk is pure and real and will make your heart ache. The neat thing is that, every once in a while, you can see William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy while watching Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto.

[Spoilers after the jump]

When George Kirk (James' father) dies, I shed a few tears. You don't know too much about George Kirk from the official Trek Canon, but some history can be found here.
In the movie, there is no mention of Sam Kirk, James' elder brother. During the first battle between the Romulan ship and the USS Kelvin, you don't see any children and the suggestion is that James is the first born child of George and Winona Kirk.
A lot of traditional Trek Canon can be set aside for this movie because the premise is that when a Romulan ship falls through a black hole and re-emerges 170 years earlier, it will pollute the time line and an alternate time line is created (this alternate time-line plot is something we Trekkies are very well acquanted with, and has been done in virtually all versions of Trek).
As I recall, Spock never served as an instructor at Star Fleet academy, and Spock, Kirk and McCoy didn't know one another until later arrivals/re-assignments to Enterprise 1701.
Wynona Rider was excellent as Spock's mother, Amanda. You see them hugging and touching one another affectionately. It didn't go that well for them in the original episodes, where the only physical contact between them was when the mother (Jane Wyatt) slaps Spock.
During the first part of the movie, there is an homage to another Sci-Fi movie, Cloverfield, as Star Fleet cadets order Slushi's, and as we recognize a few too many physical characteristics of the monster that attacks James T Kirk on a snow-covered planet.
The scenes were Jim Kirk is trying to get into Uhura's pants are certainly a surprise, but nothing compared to the scenes where the forbidden relationship is actually between Spock and Uhura.
It was cool that they were able to complete the recording of Majel Barrett Roddenbury before her death a few months ago. She plays the computer voice, as she did for Next Generation, Voyager and the appropriate movies. The dedication at the end of the film for both her and Gene was great.

More later. I plan to see it again sometime soon.

Live Long, and Prosper.

Comments

Great post. you really know a lot about it. i used to see star trek when i was a child. ireally didnt think that my boys would like it now in 2009.amazing!

Posted by: online movie | November 20, 2009 at 06:01 PM