Star Trek (2009)

NO SPOILERS

RATING 8.5/10


Characters - Actor/Actress
Captain James Tiberius Kirk - Chris Pine
Spock - Zachary Quinto
Spock Prime - Leonard Nimoy
Doctor Leonard McCoy (Bones) - Karl Urban
Nyota Uhura - Zoe Saldana
Montgomery Scott (Scotty) - Simon Pegg
Hikaru Sulu - John Cho
Pavel Checkov - Anton Yelchin


I would like to preface the review by saying this was a perfect movie to jump-start the summer. The action, special effects, and character development were excellent. The movie was a fabulous addition to the Star Trek series of movies, and even intelligently opens the path for sequels.

The movie begins with the birth of James T. Kirk. The storyline segways into an extensive character development of both James T. Kirk and Spock. Although it seems the plot initially revolves around Kirk and Spock, the subtle (and not so subtle) addition of characters eventually form the original crew as we know them. The characters may not all look the part, but most of the characteristics and idiosyncrasies were driven home giving a sense of nostalgia.

Notably, one of the better portrayals of the original is Karl Urban who does an excellent job as a convincing McCoy both in looks and mannerisms. Although Chris Pine did not mimic William Shatner's portrayal of James Kirk, he did an excellent job of making the part his own. Simon Pegg's Scotty was played in excellent fashion, and some of his key phrases sounded as though they were uttered out of James Doohan's mouth himself. Zachary Quinto did an excellent job of playing Spock, but one thing he could have improved: incorporating the elusive one-eyebrow raise.

As far as special effects, it is obvious that the technology of special effects has changed tremendously since the 40+ years when Star Trek's first episode aired. The Enterprise itself now appears as a high-tech marvel. The bridge is especially developed with translucent screens and LEDs. Much more of the behind the scenes of how the Enterprise functions is addressed such as the water system (which features a comical scene between Kirk and Scotty, not to be missed).

Falling in line with Star Trek the original series, as well as the Star Trek original movie series, several recognizable situations are addressed. For instance, Captain Christopher Pike (Captain of the original Enterprise) is integrated, the Kobiyahshi maneuver is talked about in depth, and we even learn where Doctor Leonard "Bones" McCoy gets his nickname.

Expect there to be some changes from the original that are not possible to explain right now without giving away the movie plot. Fortunately, the changes will be congruent to the original, yet still allowing for future sequels.

The ending was also excellent. At the credits a true sense of nostalgia surfaces from the utterance of "Space, the Final Frontier, ..." recited by... well you will just have to see the movie.