Written By: Alex Shaw

Yes, we’re a gaming site, but what the hell, most of us have an
opinion about this film, even if it’s hate. I never much cared for Star
Trek. Being raised on Star Wars I always felt that Picard and company
lacked in excitement and action, being more interested in politics and
diplomacy. However, my wife made sure I watched the first seven Star
Trek movies recently to get to know the original crew. They range from
Great (Wrath of Khan) to embarrassingly crappy (Final Frontier), but
crucially I got a bead on the characters. Other shows, films and games
set me up to get into this universe. The cream of recent Sci-F; namely
Firefly/Serenity, Battlestar Galactica and Mass Effect. All painted
vivid universes with living, breathing people and an emphasis on drama, characterization and action.

So seeing the new JJ Abrams redux was actually pretty
fantastic for me. Star Trek 09 has everything I could possibly want. It
restarts the universe (No spoilers but once you’ve seen it there’s some
really clever stuff going on regarding the new storyline.) and presents
you with new actors filling the quirky roles of all the old characters,
injecting them with youthful energy. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as
Kirk and Spock are absolutely
magnetic, capturing the twinkle of Shatners eye, his swagger and
arrogance and Nimoy’s focused, calm and unwavering demeanor. They are
stars in the making. There’s pacey action and oddball comedy, all
conducted convincingly in a shiny new version of the old world. It
feels like a full cinematic experience as well, as opposed to the
featurelength TV shows that the later movies often felt like. The
camera soars past a gigantic Enterprise that’s never felt more tangible
and real. It’s also got a lot of heart, with several moments being
actually pretty moving.

Abrams has a talent, displayed in Lost, M:I-3 and Cloverfield of
blending the realistic with the exciting and breathing new life into
tired old genre’s (Twilight Zone-style mysteries, spy thrillers and
monster movies). He’s the perfect director to bring this to 2009′s
addiences, both old hands and new blood will find something to love.
It’s definitely arguable that this film is not as faithful to the old
shows as it could have been, it’s heavily action based and reeks of
setup with it’s view to many sequels, but none of this mattered to me
as everyone involved handled the main game so well. A genuine
experience. Best film of the year so far.

Rating: 10/10