star trek 2009

Paramount Pictures
2009
PG-13

“James T. Kirk was considered to be a great man.  He went on to captain the U. S. S. Enterprise…but that was another life.  A life I will deprive you of just like I did your father!”

When the Romulan Nero comes from the future to take revenge on the Federation, rivals Kirk and Spock must work together to stop him from destroying everything they know.  On a thrilling journey filled with incredible action, the new recruits of the U. S. S. Enterprise will voyage through unimaginable danger in one of the biggest and most critically acclaimed movies of the year.

It was a dark time for fans of the Star Trek franchise.  The tenth movie in the series – Star Trek Nemesis – was a massive disappointment, and the prequel television series Enterprise was canceled after four seasons.  For all intents and purposes, the franchise was dead in the water, with books and comics keeping it on life support.  Then came word that there was going to be a new movie, one that not only was a prequel to the Original Series featuring those characters, but would also serve as a reboot to the franchise, wiping the slate clean to tell fresh stories with our beloved crew of the Enterprise.

The collective uproar from the online fan base could have been heard from Rigel 4.

In any case, there was going to be a new Star Trek, and helmed by the guy who brought us shows like Lost and Fringe, and while I was skeptical, I figured it couldn’t be as bad as Star Trek V, or as tedious as the first Motion Picture.  I went into this with three other friends on opening night, hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.

And you know something?  2009’s Star Trek was fantastic.  I went away from this thing thinking that J. J. Abrams managed to do the nigh-impossible: he took a well-loved but well-worn property with little hope for resuscitation, and not only breathed fresh life into a classic, but did so in a way that set it apart from the others while never forsaking what it was.  Kind of like they did with the cars on Pimp My Ride.

With a story that takes place before the events set in the Original Series, this Star Trek takes a look at the origins of our favorite space crew, how they met, and the circumstances that lead them to being assigned to the Enterprise.  The movie starts off with a bang, and from there it’s quite the roller coaster ride as we’re introduced to the cast who, for the most part, managed to embody the spirit of their predecessors while not merely playing carbon copies of them.  The story itself actually manages to explain why this reboot is going to be different than the Original Series timeline, and makes it relatively plausible (as plausible as timey-wimey science fiction can, anyway).

There’s a couple points of contention I have, such as Spock being a bit more broody, the minor quibble of Spock and Uhura’s romantic relationship (very minor, but seemed a bit forced still), and Scotty and Chekov’s characters sadly underutilized (Chekov coming off with a personality not unlike an excitable Chihuahua).

Overall, though, 2009’s Star Trek managed to bring back my childhood wonder and fascination with this franchise.  Sure, this is not your father’s Star Trek…heck, I would go so far to say that it’s not even my generation’s Star Trek (that would be The Next Generation, there, oddly enough).  Yes, there’s plenty here for purists to complain about; yet there’s no denying that this Star Trek was lovingly made by someone who cared about this, and made the Star Trek movie we wanted to see.  This is recommended viewing.