A 'Trek' Worth Taking

by Brett Parker

The new Star Trek is possibly the best-looking, best-acted, most compelling, and coolest film in the entire series. It is essentially like watching an episode from the very original 60’s series (the best of the TV incarnations) done to visual perfection. If you want a slam-bam sci-fi action ride, you’ll certainly get your money’s worth. Yet if you’re looking for an emotional experience on par with the original Star Wars, you’ll probably feel shortchanged like I did. The film flies at such warp speed through its plot that it never slows down to develop the peculiar quirks and relationships of the Starship Enterprise Crew. Considering how great the actors are here, and the fascinating depths they suggest, this is considerably disappointing.

The film follows the original crew of the Starship Enterprise from their youthful years at the Starfleet Academy to their maiden voyage in space exploration. We meet the young Jim Kirk (Chris Pine), a cocky hothead who decides to follow in his deceased father’s footsteps by joining the Starfleet. We also meet the young Spock (Zachary Quinto), a Vulcan scientist who struggles with the human emotions inherent in him from his Earthling mother (Winona Ryder). These two mythic figures meet and clash heads at the Academy, for Kirk is off-put by Spock’s logical self-righteousness while Spock dislikes his compulsive arrogance. When the Enterprise is called into action to investigate an intergalactic stress call, Spock uses his influence to ban Kirk from setting foot on the ship. With the help of some sneaky tricks pulled by his neurotic buddy Bones McCoy (Karl Urban), Kirk is able to sneak onto the ship and join in the action.

As the Enterprise crew takes off on their first mission, they encounter Nero (Eric Bana), a pirate-like Romulan who is seeking revenge for the destruction of his home planet. Nero commands a grand and menacing ship that can dig holes into a planet’s core and implode it with a black hole. The crew of the Enterprise summon all of their talents to battle Nero, which includes the swordsmanship of Sulu (John Cho), the resourceful instincts of Chekov (Anton Yelchin), and the technical genius of Scotty (Simon Pegg). Things grow tense and interesting as Kirk and Spock clash over how to battle Nero while an elder version of Spock (Leonard Nimoy) travels back in time to warn Kirk of an altered future.

What is first and foremost impressive about Star Trek, even more so than the special effects, is how wonderfully the cast embodies their mythic roles. Almost every member in the cast stated in pre-release interviews that they wished to honor the original essence of their characters all while adding their own unique touches. They’ve accomplished that mission with excellence. Everything we’ve come to love about Bones, Scotty, and Sulu can be found here wrapped in fresh, likeable performances that make us care greatly about this crew and their adventures. I liked how these supporting characters aren’t merely throwaways decorated around Kirk and Spock but represent a team learning to respect and look out for each other. Almost everyone on the Enterprise gets to do something greatly heroic and we delight in seeing these young space warriors finding their identities.

Eddie Murphy once remarked in Boomerang that Captain Kirk is “the coolest white man ever.” With Chris Pine’s performance here, I can truly believe that. With his cocksure swagger and volcanic intensity, Pine reinvents the legendary space hero on his own terms, making for a character that is cool and charismatic beyond belief. A scene where he flips out on the deck of the Enterprise is so post-modern Shatner that it excites the hell out of us. A true movie star is born here. Also impressive is Zachary Quinto in a thoughtful and unexpected revision of the Spock character. He makes Spock seem more conflicted and emotional than we’ve ever seen him before, making this familiar character unexpectedly unpredictable. Just wait until you see him lose his Vulcan mind on a taunting Kirk. It’s a testament to Quinto that he can stare down Leonard Nimoy playing the same character and still hold his own effectively.

Director J.J. Abrams has constructed Star Trek with the same method he applied to Mission: Impossible 3: take a familiar franchise and pump it up with vibrant action scenes of the highest technical caliber and unexpected character flourishes. The action scenes are indeed awesome, including a free-fall attack on a Romulan space drill and a phaser shoot-out on an enemy spaceship, made especially effective by a post-Bourne shaky-cam style. My only qualm with the film is that the character drama should’ve been given a lot more room to breathe. Abrams stated in interviews that he was never much of a Star Trek fan and wanted to model the new version in a more Star Wars-like vain. Yet his film lacks the patience and character attention George Lucas’ epic demonstrated so well. This is certainly no fault of the cast; so resourceful are their performances that we can feel their inner-depths trying to burst out. If only they had a director who wasn’t afraid to focus intensively on them. Abrams made his name in the television world (with Alias and Lost) and he still has that television creator’s drive to pound out emotions and adventure in a zippy and tight package. He needs to trust the film medium more and not be afraid to develop things more deeply.

Take, for example, the relationship between Kirk and Spock. They start off as bitter rivals, yet we know by film’s end that they will start to become friends. What the film lacks is the dialogue and transition scenes necessary to establish the weight of this shifting relationship. It would’ve been exciting to have Kirk and Spock hold more conversations highlighting their tensions and things they may have in common. Pine and Quinto have effective chemistry, yet their shaky partnership is never challenging or touching in a substantial way. In a small moment where Kirk lets his guard down and surprises Spock with a brotherly pat on the back, we can feel the lost potential between this duo. The villainous Nero also suffers as a result of the film’s pacing. Instead of fleshing out his boiling anguish and rage, the film reduces him to the level of a comic book villain. Eric Bana is as focused and sinister as he can be, yet this underwritten role diminishes Nero’s chances of becoming a tragic new age Darth Vader. And call me crazy, but don’t you think some great relationship humor could’ve emerged from Kirk’s sexual rendezvous with the ultra-sexy Orion, Gaila (Rachel Nichols)?

The film also suppresses a great emotional impact with a time travel subplot. The elder Spock finds himself warped back in time and having to dictate the destiny and future of the main characters to a marooned Kirk. I think this subplot could’ve really elevated the material from skilled pop to surprising human drama. If an older version of your best friend traveled back in time to tell you that you’d one day be a great man who will have great adventures, what big emotions would that evoke in you? The filmmakers could’ve used this idea to give the characters a grand sense of destiny and the mythic figures they will one day become. This story holds the potential to be a meditation on the anxiety and wonderment young people face as they ponder their futures and struggle to do great things with their lives. But our hearts begin to sink as we realize that the time travel plot is simply a neat gimmick for the screenwriters to mess around with the Star Trek mythology to suit their own needs. Indeed, Nimoy’s presence, while delightful and fascinating, feels like a conservative Trekkie is making sure these hot new hipsters honor this traditional sci-fi universe and know how to properly handle themselves in a Star Trek movie. While Abrams promised his film would appeal to both Trekkies and non-Trekkies, we feel this film is titled more towards the former.

I saw this film at a late night screening with my older brother and he loved it. He simply stated, “You know a movie is awesome when you can’t stop thinking about it the next day.” Star Trek had the same effect on me and that is perhaps the highest compliment I could pay the new film. At a time when most sci-fi vehicles feel cheesy and mundane, this franchise reboot really does feel like something special. The production design seduces you with its bright lights and beautiful colors and it’s ultra-hard to resist the charms of the ensemble cast. While it’s not the most dramatic update we could’ve hoped for, it’s still an exciting pop ride that delivers the kind of blockbuster thrills summer movies are all about. As the film’s final scene shows the Enterprise crew preparing the ship for a new voyage, we realize that we’ll boldly go with these kids to where no man has gone before.