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Simon Pegg as Scotty

No sooner have the cadets graduated, however, than Starfleet gets a distress call and the newly-christened Enterprise, led by Captain Pike (Kirk hasn't been promoted yet), soars into action—and what action it is. Nero's giant spaceship has returned (where it has been these past 25 years is never really explained) and is now threatening Spock's home planet, so to stop him, the Enterprise must fly through a sea of space wreckage, engage Nero's ship in a space battle, and send an away team to fight the bad guys in hand-to-hand combat.

As a demonstration of technical prowess, Star Trek is hard to beat. The special effects are fantastic, and the outer-space setting is made all the more strange and exotic by the sound mix, which occasionally drops to near-silence. The storytellers also make some very bold choices, clearly establishing that this story exists in a world of its own, where there is genuine peril and anything can happen. And they sprinkle the story with welcome bits of humor, much of it courtesy of the young Scotty (Shaun of the Dead's Simon Pegg).

The movie hits a major stumbling block about halfway through, though, piling one plot hole onto the story after another—and at the very point when all the story threads are supposed to be coming together and making sense! Without giving too much away, suffice it to say that the original Spock finally pops up out of nowhere to explain just who the bad guys are and why they're attacking everybody—and neither his reason for being there, nor the reason he gives for staying there after he sends the other characters on their way, make any sense. Even worse, this sequence reeks of lazy writing, from the massive coincidence that kicks it off to the very convenient bit of high-tech magic that moves us right along to the next scene.

Zoe Saldana as Uhura

At times like this, you almost wish that the makers of the new Star Trek had gone the route of Casino Royale or Batman Begins and done a complete reboot, without maintaining any continuity with the original series. But it may be only long-time fans who care about that sort of thing, just as it may be only long-time fans who care that this is the first Star Trek movie that doesn't really seem to be about anything other than itself: past films have tackled any number of themes, from saving the whales and ending the Cold War to the role that free will and sacrifice play in making us human, but this film is interested in little more than moving a bunch of familiar characters into position and getting ready for the inevitable sequel.

For those who want little more than a thrilling ride at the movies this summer, however, the new Star Trek should do the trick. And it has just enough of the old-school stuff to keep fans of the original series intrigued, even if it leaves them feeling somewhat disappointed.

Talk About It

1. Kirk and Spock argue over the merits of the Kobayashi Maru space-battle simulator and whether it helps potential Starfleet officers to experience "fear". What do you think? Can you experience "fear" when you know that you are only in a simulator? Do you have to experience "fear" in order to confront a no-win scenario?
   
   
2. What do you make of the elderly Spock's reasons for staying where he is when there are billions of lives at stake? What would you do in a situation like his? Do you think he shares any responsibility for what has happened, or expresses enough responsibility for it?
   
   
3. Is "compassion" anything more to Kirk than a tactical ploy? What would you have done in his place? Is what Kirk and Spock do at the climax of the story justifiable in any way?
   
   

The Family Corner

Star Trek is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content (Kirk is seen in bed with a woman, but they are both in their underwear and they are quickly interrupted). There are also a few brief vulgarities (i.e. the sort of "colourful metaphors" that Kirk and Spock were not familiar with when they visited the 20th century in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home).

Photos © Paramount Pictures

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