“Star Trek” – My Review ***With Spoilers***
The short review is simple. If you are really devoted to the current Star Trek canon, you won’t like it. For everyone else, you’ll probably like this movie. Taken on it’s own, it is a good movie, albeit with a few minor problem here and there. And most people won’t even notice the problems.
The acting is very good. Chris Pine’s performance as the young Jim Kirk is especially well done. When the guy is on the screen, you just have to look at him. And he has the character of the young Kirk down pat: Brash, womanizing, risk-taking, and self-confident. Karl Urban’s Dr. McCoy is also well played, and we even got an “I’m a doctor, not a physicist!” out of him. Zachary Quinto expresses the conflict between emotions and logic that plagues his character with surprising subtlety. Zoe Saldana’s Uhura is, for practically the first time in 40 years, an interesting character, with a story and a life.
The dialogue is sharper and wittier than we’re used to seeing in a Star Trek movie, and the wit pops up in unexpected places, like Capt. Pike’s first encounter with Nero, the Romulan villain of the piece: “I’m Captain Christopher Pike, of the Federation starship Enterprise.” “Hi, Christopher, I’m Nero.” The back-and-forth banter between the Spock and McCoy characters that was so much a part of the original series is presented well in the new movie.
The action in the film is practically non-stop, with hardly any time to catch your breath. So, the film is tightly scripted, which makes the 2.5 hour running time seem like much less.
Based on the above, I rate the movie very highly.
I did mention some problems though, and I’d like to address them. I can’t do that, though, without giving away some spoilers.
Do not read any more, unless you’re willing to encounter serious spoilers.
This is your last warning.