I always dreaded this film from the moment I first heard that Matt Damon was being considered as Kirk. But then something happened to make me think that this film was a good idea. That something was that I finally saw the movie.
Star Trek is an institution (asls known as the ‘franchise that will not die’). It has a whopping 40+ years of history, 4 TV series, hundered of episodes and 10 movies. That is a lot of baggage and it is why an origins story must have been tempting to all.
The big danger with an origins story is that it would require a franchise reboot. If you had read my blog on teh Scifi Channel website you would know what I think about reboots, reimaginings etc.
The next challenge that the film was set was to make it accessable and not too geeky for people who would say “I don’t like Star Trek, but I like this film” (makes me grumble – this film IS Star Trek) but also make it relevant for those who love the show and its rich history.
So in comes the young cast, including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Simon Pegg out go Klingons (aside from passing references), the villian of the film is Romulan, much cooler than Klingons. The ship stays the same (yah) and the characters and charactariations are actually given more depth, quicker in this film than in any other stage of Star Trek.
For the geek there are many little moments and references that point ‘back’ to the original series and movies, but most importantly there is a big factor of continuity. This has been very cleverly done. This film is not so much as a reboot or reimagining – but sticks with the rules of Star Trek past and becomes a genuine part of continuity with the other series. All the previous series dabbled with other universes and parallel existances, well this movie just exploits that fact and presents it in a genuine way that should tick most boxes for everyones perception.
In this review I haven’t spoken about the films style, humour, special effects or content. That has been done to death in other reviews and in general it is a fantastic film with good all of the above.
