Star Trek (2009)

As a long standing Trek fan, the premise of a "reboot" of the franchise was both intriguing and disturbing at the same time. It's true the franchise needed some new blood both behind the scenes and on the screen, but remaking the cast at started a 40 year old franchise is nothing to take lightly. One thing that must be kept in mind is Star Trek is not your typical reboot, but a reboot set in an alternate time line. Alternate time line stories have been explored countless times in the 40 years of Star Trek, but this is the first time a film and potential series of films have ever chronicled one. This avenue ultimately allows the writers to change the history of Star Trek, something that is sure to annoy quite a few hardcore fans who have grown comfortable with the Trek lore.

Our story begins when Nero, a Romulan miner from the future, seeks revenge on Spock (Leonard Nimoy). The planet Romulas is under the threat of destruction by a star which has gone supernova. The Vulcan high council has agreed to assist in saving Romulas by sending Spock and their fastest ship equipped with Red Matter. When the Red Matter is fired into the supernova it will create a black hole which theoretically will consume the supernova and save the planet.

Unfortunately Spock does not make it to Romulas on time, and in his last minute attempt to save the planet from total annihilation the black hole that is created engulfs his ship and the ship of Nero. Somehow the reaction of the Red Matter and the supernova creates a time vortex which sends Nero and Spock into the past, only Nero arrives 25 years earlier in time than Spock. In an attempt at retaliation for not saving Romulus sooner Nero plans on capturing Spock and making him watch as he destroys Vulcan, and the other Federation of planets. The problem is Nero doesn't realize he's traveled through time. In an attempt to find Spock, Nero attacks the first Federation ship he comes across, The USS Kelvin, it's when he captures their Captain that he learns of his predicament, Nero then swiftly destroys the Kelvin, with acting Captain George Kirk aboard.

This act initiates the alternate time line, George Kirk was not supposed to die that day, he originally lived long enough to see his son, James T. Kirk, becomes Captain of the Enterprise. Now Nero must lurk in wait for the arrival of the old Spock a time of 25 years in which to plot his revenge and grow even more angry. Nero's plans will end up tainting the time line even more as his actions will effect the future of the young Spock and the crew of the Enterprise which cannot be reversed. It's up to the crew of the Enterprise to prevent Nero from carrying out his plan and destroying all the planets in the Federation.

The alternate time line aspect of the story will ultimately ruin the film for the greatest of Trek enthusiasts, any major changes to the history of the franchise is quite taboo. It's alright to have a television episode that flirts with the idea, but some Trekkie's will be quite unhappy with actually directing the entire franchise in an alternate direction. I can see their anger or disappointment, though I don't necessarily share it, frankly the alternate time line is at least the better way of rebooting the franchise than rewriting it and not attempting to acknowledge or explain the changes in the first place. My only major dispute with the changes is the relationship between Uhura and Spock, which is out of place, unexplained and just plain uncomfortable.

Overall, I felt the story for the most part well written, the casting was excellent, the acting was better than I expected and the special effects were top notch. Star Trek is definitely an installment of the franchise that almost anyone can jump right into and enjoy, and as I said the only people who are going to find real fault are the hardcore enthusiasts who live and breath this franchise, and don't like seeing major factors of the franchise changed. In the end I don't believe Star Trek is the best of the now eleven films, but it certainly ranks amid the top five.

8/10