Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

By John J. Joex

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

(THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS)

Every so often a company decides to re-invent one or more of their major franchises so that they can reboot it for a whole new audience and provide it with a new life-cycle (and of course, make a bunch more money from it). The two major comic book publishers, Marvel and DC, have done this several times with their entire line-ups, restarting or modifying the history of their characters for a newer, younger audience, while also maintaining the right amount of continuity to keep the older audience reading as well. The new Star Trek movie, from director J.J. Abrams, does basically the same thing with that iconic franchise.

Now before going further, I should explain where I stand as a Star Trek fan. I began watching the original series in reruns back in the seventies, and to me that is the true Star Trek. I have seen every episode of that run three to four dozen times at least, and some episodes I have seen well over a hundred times (hey, back in the seventies you only had about five or six channels to choose from, so there wasn’t much else to watch). I rank the original series at the number one slot on my Science Fiction and Fantasy Television Top 10 List (tied with the original Twilight Zone), and I consider myself a scholar on the first run of Trek. So as I watched the movie and saw that they were pointing to toward of re-invention the story, I definitely felt strong feelings of reservation.

The movie goes back to the early days of the characters from the original series as they emerge from Starfleet as cadets and first cut their teeth on the newly christened Enterprise. Yet several things seemed out of place from what we had previously learned about our favorite characters, and it started to bother a purist like myself that they would take such liberties with the backstory of the show I knew and loved so well. But then the moment of realization came to me as I saw what exactly they were doing, and I have to admit it was a brilliant turn. I won’t reveal the specifics of how they did it, but basically they left the original cannon intact while also setting the course for a whole new storyline (and if you think through what I just said, you will probably realize what they did).

We now have a whole new cast taking the iconic characters we know so well in an entirely new direction. And I have to admit that despite my strong attachment to the original Trek, I was never bothered by the idea of new actors taking over the familiar roles. And I believe that they hit dead on with pretty much all of the primary characters. Each brings his or her own interpretation to their character which is as it should be. Other than Karl Urban seeming to channel DeForest Kelly as McCoy (and also looking a lot like Gary Lockwood who played Gary Mitchell in “Where No Man Has Gone Before”), the actors made the characters their own. I really like the new interpretations of Kirk, Spock, and Uhura and absolutely loved the Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) as Scotty (but what was the deal with his alien side-kick?).

As far as the story, I felt they went a bit over the top with the action. The movie set an extreme pace right away and really almost never let the audience stop to catch its breath until the ending credits started to roll. At times it seemed like they wanted to target their reboot of the franchise directly at the adrenaline-rush crowd. Of course I understand that they followed this path to provide the appropriate spectacle expected of a movie event of this magnitude, but I wish they had put a little bit more heart and soul into it. Think back to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn which provided plenty of spectacle (for the time at least), but which had a strong story and compelling themes driving it as well.

Still, I look at this movie as the launching pad for the new franchise and will cut it some slack as it had to set the stage for what will come next. Sort of like an exposition heavy television series pilot with the backstory details coming at you rapid fire. And really, I kind of regret that this is not a pilot for a weekly series, as I see a lot of story potential that they never will be able to realize doing a movie every couple of years which must come with the requisite amount of big screen spectacle. But still, the first installment in the reboot of the franchise gave us plenty of entertainment and promise for the future while showing the appropriate amount of respect for the past as well.

Star Trek Take 1 – Read Sam Christoper’s Review

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