Star Trek (2009)

Director: J.J. Abrams                                    Writers: Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman
Film Score: Michael Giacchino                       Cinematography: Daniel Mindel
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Bruce Greenwood and Zoe Saldana

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn saw the birth of the Genesis Planet, but this Star Trek prequel could be considered the genesis film. It’s the birth of the franchise, so to speak, the beginning of all that would come afterward. “Damn it, Jim, I’m a doctor.” “I’m givin’ her all she’s got, Captain.” “Highly illogical.” This is where it all started. But the best thing about this film is the premise. The Romulans from the future, who blame Spock for the destruction of their planet, accidentally come back through time travel and await the opportunity to destroy the planet Vulcan in front of Spock’s eyes. By doing so, however, they change the space-time continuum and thereby allow for a different timeline than the one that happened in the television series. This frees future films in the series from strict adherence to the series and allows us all to seek out and explore strange new adventures with the original characters.

The new film begins with the Romulans emerging from the black hole, encountering the Federation star ship Kelvin. Onboard is an officer by the name of Kirk, who we assume to be James T. But as the prologue nears its conclusion we come to understand that this is Kirk’s father, George. His father being lost on that mission, the young James becomes a rebel, but is recognized for his superior intellect by Captain Pike and invited to join Star Fleet. Meanwhile, the young Spock is dealing with his dual identity as half-human half-Vulcan and battling with his emotions. Uhura is already a Star Fleet cadet and is joined by Kirk and McCoy onboard an emergency mission to Vulcan. Of course, this is where the planet is destroyed and the crew members bring their talents to the fore and become the crew of the star ship Enterprise.

Chris Pine is great as the new Kirk, named after his two grandfathers, James and Tiberius. Spock was probably a more difficult casting job, but Zachary Quinto does a great job at emulating Leonard Nimoy. Zoe Saldana, who did a great job in The Terminal, makes a fantastic Uhura. And the rest of the casting is just spot-on. Karl Urban is Bones McCoy, John Cho is Sulu, Anton Yelchin is a wonderful Chekov, and somehow discovered on a desolate planet is first engineer Simon Pegg as Scottie. By far the best part of this film is the ability to hit the reset button and start the series fresh. Infinite variations are available due to the new timeline and the young actors have lots of years ahead of them to recreate the series in their image.

The film won an Academy Award for best makeup, which is the least of its positive attributes. Director J.J. Abrams is a brilliant choice for director of the series, and has now been picked up to do the directing chores for the latest Star Wars film. But the scripts are very well done, totally respectful of the series, using all of the catch phrases, keeping the characters true to their original conceptions and showing them bonding as the crew that we came to know and love in the original series. Being able to pull back from all of the spin-offs and start fresh is a boon to Treckies, and the new Star Trek is a series that is destined for greatness.