It’s Star Trek Jim, but not as we know it

You may well have heard rumblings that the new Star Trek movie is something special. With Lost creator JJ Abrams at the helm, it certainly promises to present a reinvigorated, re-imagined new beginning to the much-loved science fiction series.

Taking us back to the origins of the story, JJ Abrams’ Star Trek introduces us to a youthful Enterprise crew, showing us not only how they are brought together but also revealing their erstwhile hot-headed young personalities as both Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) tussle with interior and exterior conflicts.

When Nero (Eric Bana), a Romulan baddie from the future, seeks to wreak revenge, the duo come together with some other familiar characters – Dr Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy (Karl Urban), Chekhov (Anton Yelchin), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Sulu (John Cho) and Scotty (Simon Pegg) to save the galaxy … for the first time.

Despite rave previews, Star Trek is simply another big budget science fantasy summer blockbuster. With Spielberg-esque undertones, it’s an actioner in the Transformers mould with the essence of Star Wars mixed in.

Awarded a 12a certificate, Star Trek is a family film and its cast ensures this latest addition to the Star Trek saga is the glossiest, trendiest and best-looking to date.

The biggest problem with the film is the two central performances.

Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto may well look mighty fine but they certainly don’t have the nuances and talents of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.

Karl Urban as McCoy and Simon Pegg as Scotty are superb, however.  Both make the roles their own, affectionately bringing humour to the parts and banishing all thoughts of DeForest Kelley and James Doohan.

The original series contained a degree of sardonic comedy but here the humour is frequently too broad and too irreverent, sending up the much-loved original a little too readily.

While Abrams succeeds in updating and bringing a new audience to an ailing film series, boldly attempting to go with the series where no director has gone before, Star Trek isn’t wholly successful in striking a balance between reverence to the original and imbuing it with a contemporary edge.

For this particular critic, Star Trek isn’t as insightful, intriguing, compelling – or as entertaining as hoped.

Read 'Your reviews of Star Trek' here

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