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Star Trek (2009)

Director: JJ Abrams

Time Out rating

Average user rating

92 reviews

Synopsis

The original crew of the USS Enterprise battle Romulans from the future in the eleventh Star Trek film. J.J. Abrams (Lost, Cloverfield) directs and we follow James T. Kirk from his first day enrolling at the Starfleet Academy.

Movie review

From Time Out London

Cheerfully bucking the trend for dark, miserablist blockbusters, ‘Lost’ creator JJ Abrams has updated the ‘Star Trek’ franchise for the twenty-first century without resorting to political allegory, moral wrangling or the sadistic violence that characterised similar reinventions like ‘The Dark Knight’. It’s true that an entire planet gets blown up, but the characters swiftly recover on their way to another round of phaser-firing, evasive-manouevring, quip-trading action.

The script details the early years of captain-to-be James T Kirk (Chris Pine) and his taciturn Vulcan sidekick Spock (Zachary Quinto) and is deceptively clever: it works both as affectionate fanboy nostalgia and as a neophyte’s introduction to the ‘Trek’-verse. By employing a time-distorting narrative, complete with mind-mangling multi-dimensional techspeak, Abrams and his writers allow themselves to refit this fictional future completely, keeping the good stuff (beaming up, warp drives, that inimitable ship design) while jettisoning most of the increasingly convoluted mythology.

It doesn’t all work: Eric Bana’s Romulan villain feels too familiar, just another plasticine-headed psychopath with a grudge against the universe. The climax, too, is undercooked: ten minutes of noisy ship-to-ship combat with very little emotional investment.

But these are minor complaints when stacked against Abrams’s many successes. The flawless design wittily updates the ’60s series’ sleek art deco interiors and throws in a few Lycra miniskirts for good measure. The cast are equally strong: Quinto brings wry charm to an otherwise calculating character, while Pine powers through his performance in bullish, if not quite Shatner-esque fashion. The only sore thumb is Karl Urban’s McCoy, whose ‘Damn it, Jim!’ impersonation feels a little too close to pastiche.

The overall impression is one of unbridled enthusiasm on the part of the film’s makers, both for its predecessors and for the brave new universe Abrams and his crew are exploring. Perhaps the best summary of the film comes from Captain Kirk himself, dying on the side of a distant interstellar rock many decades later: ‘It was… fun.’

Author: Tom Huddleston 2009-05-05 10:59:58

Time Out London Issue 2020, May 7-13, 2009

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User reviews of this film

Kool Kane said...

Posted on May 28 2009 09:18 Its one of the best films ive ever seen! If you are thinking of seeing it and u cant descide just GO!!!!!!!!! It is the best action film ever! i never have watched a star trek episodes before but i thought that was AWESEOME!!!!

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londoc said...

Posted on May 25 2009 12:13 This movie gets all my 6 stars since it's most brilliant with blow-up action (What's Red Matter anyway?), very funny (Can I have a towel, please?) and a very careful development of characters (All I have left is my bones.). It’s true that Leonard Nimoy’s dentures are sort of in the way (Good luck!). What I don’t understand is how Spock and Spock meet in the same time frame and simply stay there. The ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy in the 1980’s taught me that this time paradox can be very dangerous though I must admit that they had 3 different Michael J. Foxes in the same time frame at one point - and we’re all still here ... But to change the entire timeline like that is a truly brilliant move (We have to be unpredictable!) and opens the door for a whole new First Series (Scotty, beam me up!), movie-wise at least. Mr Quinto could have copied Mr Nimoy’s wobbling short-paced gait and his impersonation would’ve been perfect (I could say it’s against regulations but you would simply ignore me!). And why shouldn’t Spock fall in love with Uhura (what IS her first name anyway?)? But she would probably ask him: ‘Will you still respect me in the morning in 7 years’ time?’ May I coin the term ‘Trookkie’ for Mr Technoguy on this page? He can’t have been with the Trek world for long, so he’s a rookie as a Trekkie, hence Trookkie. Never mind. The name is Pike not Spike (though Chris Pike could mutate into Chris Spike if you pronounce it fast enough; but he always gets addressed as ‘Christopher’ not as ‘Chris’), and it’s Nimoy not Nimo. About Nimo or Nemo or maybe Nero (what? Romulan! Not Roman ...) as the name for the Romulan captain Eric Bana, I don’t know since I’ve never seen the name written down. But, Technoguy, I’m very glad about your comments and I agree with all of them! So, no hard feelings, ok? The casting was very elaborate. Not only do the young ones very much look and talk like the original ones (Dammit!), they succeed in impersonating the originals very nicely (Fencing!), and where they don’t (Do we, I don’t know, fire back?), the new timeline can be held responsible. The new Chekov’s accent needs some getting used to but he brings a lot of freshness to the set when he has trouble authenticating himself on line to address the crew because he has a hard time differentiating between ‘v’ and ‘w’. It’s funny how almost all characters have a definite American accent (which I love by the way but I might be the only one ...), even Spock and Nimo/Nemo/Nero who come from really alien places. With the notable exception of Simon Pegg of course (Do they still have sandwiches in the future?). Sorry, this got so long but I’ve watched the movie 4 times so far and pick up something new in every session. I hope there’s no editor in this here forum to just cut my comment in half and gets on with life, the universe and everything. But even if, live long and prosper anyway.

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Alison Griffiths said...

Posted on May 25 2009 08:38 The best film I have seen in a long time - brilliant - I cried at the end and wanted to stay and watch it again

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james said...

Posted on May 23 2009 17:40 A F**KING BEAST OF A FILM!

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Trahern said...

Posted on May 22 2009 17:15 Leonard Nimoy's participation in the film was the deciding factor in my going to see it, but I came away thinking, "Meh."
There are good points and bad that anyone will notice if they bother to take their brain into the cinema with them; the rest is down to personal opinion (don't care for this tweaking of the Enterprise, it looks like it was redesigned by Steve Jobs).
In the end, it's only worth the cinema ticket if you don't rent DVDs. My inner Trekkie wishes someone would send the franchise off into the sunset with grace, but that would require them to stop trying to milk it.

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Tracy said...

Posted on May 21 2009 14:55 Loved it, loved it, loved it. How it all came together was just fab and I had not realised that it was going to be so funny! I have never gone to see the same film twice at the cinema but I might just do so this time! It was sooo good.

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rosie and terri said...

Posted on May 21 2009 08:38 OMFGGGG, WHAT A FILM, BLOOODY OUTSTANDING. WE'VE NEVER WATCHED THE EPISODES BECAUSE WE THOUGHT AHHHH THEIR RUBBISH. BUT WE THOUGHT THE FILM WAS INCREDIBLE. X

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rosie and terri said...

Posted on May 21 2009 08:38 OMFGGGG, WHAT A FILM, BLOOODY OUTSTANDING. WE'VE NEVER WATCHED THE EPISODES BECAUSE WE THOUGHT AHHHH THEIR RUBBISH. BUT WE THOUGHT THE FILM WAS INCREDIBLE. X

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sue said...

Posted on May 20 2009 19:25 I thought it was great! I was forced to go with my husband and I think I liked it more than him. Spock is very sexy!!

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Trish said...

Posted on May 19 2009 21:28 Ok, I loved it, i'm a fan from way back, too long to mention, we only had 1 TV and i had brothers, anyway.... I just enjoy reliving the origional, I never got into the next generation stuff. just fo rfun I would have liked a camo by William Shatner, grandfather or something? Would have loved to hear some of that over acting re-lived. Gona see it again tonight on Imax

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Maria=] said...

Posted on May 19 2009 20:02 It was brilliant! Zachary Quinto played spock as good as leonard Nimoy did! I say see it, if you have go see it again! I loved it!

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RJ said...

Posted on May 18 2009 02:47 Abrams realizes that visual eye candy involving blowing stuff up will draw crowds. So he does just that. Nothing more, nothing less. Is this an entertaining movie? Absolutely. Just remember to leave your critically-inclined brain cells at home because you’ll be force-fed a flimsy and at times downright ridiculous plot., especially if you're at all familiar with the genre. Abrams is probably already contemplating making a sequel. The plot will center on how Kirk and his crew go off partying at an exotic outpost during interstellar spring break.

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Chrissy said...

Posted on May 15 2009 10:38 Excellent movie, definately buying the DVD when it comes out. Was not a fan of Star Trek before i watched this. Excellent, 6 stars

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sonja said...

Posted on May 14 2009 11:30 Entertaining film, expected more but hey kept me amased for a couple of hours or so. The occasional comedy doesn't gel at all in this and a bit embarrassing. 'Young' Spock was spockily good. But I was distracted by Spock's dentures which have surely been borrowed from Dennis Waterman...

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sara said...

Posted on May 13 2009 15:47 Even though i am not a trekkie or a star trek fan i was totally impressed with this film it was amazing - the graphics were amazing and i definatly will be buying the dvd

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