Star Trek

When I arrived at the cinema I was sweating. It wasn’t excitement. I’d been running. I wanted to make it to the early showing, because Star Trek draws a big crowd. I had moved with haste, but had modest expectations for the film that awaited me. For all its series and many movies, Star Trek had always disappointed me. Star Trek felt like quite a dull and sterile view of the future. It was a place where phasers were mostly set on stun and everything looked too shiny and brand new; like it had all just come out of the props department. It was also less spiritual than the Star Wars Trilogy; with no force, no dark side, just a lot of talking about particle physics. It’s impressive that with a film so faithful to its original inspiration director J.J. Abrams has still managed to change almost everything about Star Trek.

From the opening moments it’s clear that Abrams has introduced some much needed blood and danger into the supposedly ‘safe’ world of Star Trek. Ships explode, people die and are sucked into the silent crushing void of space. For the first time I truly felt the utter urgency and peril which such adventures should merit. For a while, big screen re-imaginings of old franchises had tended toward camp parody. They sacrificed convincing drama in favour of the lowbrow appeal of kitsch comedy. Now, studios finally seem convinced that there is an even greater box office appetite for dark realism. As a result ‘Star Trek’ is one of the best crafted summer blockbusters in some time.

When an alien race bent on revenge and the destruction of the peacekeeping federation of planets inadvertently travel back in time, it has a profound impact on those destined to crew the U.S.S. Enterprise and threatens the lives of billions. Though concepts of time travel and alternative realities may sound off-putting, this is just a necessary way of ensuring that the re-born franchise can stand alone from all the previous series and movies. It simply means forget what you think you know about Star Trek, because this is something new. The film is essentially an epic origin story, propelled at a blistering pace with relentless action and light flashes of humour.

The difficult challenge of re-casting the familiar crew of the USS Enterprise has been met with more success than fans could have dared hope for. The film’s fresh faced cast treads the fine line between impersonation and re-invention almost perfectly. Instead of A-list stars, the studio has wisely chosen emerging talents who bear a remarkable physical resemblance to the old crew. Their performances re-discover all the drama and humour of these characters, with little amiss to anger old fans.

Leading by example, Chris Pine captures the precise mix of arrogance and boyish charm that epitomises Captain James T. Kirk. Getting this role right was absolutely critical if the film was to succeed and win fan approval. William Shatner is a very tough act to follow, but as with many things, the film gets it absolutely right. Zachary Quinto looks and sounds convincingly like a young Leonard Nimoy, as logical Vulcan Spok, complete with those iconic pointy ears. His bickering tension with the impulsive young Kirk is well played and destined to become a powerful friendship. Karl Urban is also particularly impressive as Dr ‘Bones’ McCoy, the ships likeably cantankerous medic. Simon Pegg pulls off a difficult accent as miracle working engineer Scotty; while navigator Chekov’s lifelong struggles to pronounce the letter ‘v’ continues with amusing effect. Perhaps the only character to get a slight re-vamp is communications officer Uhura, who proves a more alluring love interest than you may remember.

For long time fans there are plenty of in-jokes and nods to the previous films and TV series to enjoy. Some references are more subtle than others, but none of them distract from the stunning success of this movie in its own right. Over the last few years many blockbusters have proved to be overhyped disappointments; devoid of emotion and fatally contaminated with bad CGI. However, ‘Star Trek’ fully delivers on its promise of entertaining adventure. The film’s action has compelling momentum and its characters have credible substance. It’s quite frankly rare to see a major summer release so unblemished by the typical failings of Hollywood.

As I leave the cinema, I see an almost endless line of people impatiently queuing outside. I ask someone what they're waiting for. Star Trek is the obvious reply. To boldly go?...the answer is yes. Warp Speed Mr Sulu!