Star Trek

Watching a movie for a third time is bound to be dangerous. Things start to grate on you, and you lose most of the initial excitement. This, apparently, is not so with Star Trek, which 8 months later, is just as exciting and entertaining as it was the first time.

Particularly surprising was the emotional impact it had, especially the opening scene. With only around 10 minutes to introduce the film's villain, as well as tell the story of James Kirk's birth, we nonetheless get wrapped up in the valiance and sacrifice of Kirk's dad's action. I haven't gotten choked up that quickly since that fight with that anaconda back in '93.

The rest of the movie follows Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) on their respective paths to Starfleet and the starship Enterprise. Kirk is something of a genius cowboy, who comes with equal parts aptitude, charm, and disregard. Pine is an absolute joy to watch as Kirk playfully steps out of his father's shadow by simply going around it.

Spock, on the other hand, ironically provides a more grounded emotional centre to the film. As the child of a Vulcan man and a Human woman, his upbringing is complicated by the strength of his emotions. This difficult upbringing evolves into tragedy as the movie unfolds, forcing Spock to reconcile his immense loss with his repressive Vulcan teachings.

The rest of the cast is just as fun to watch, whether it's Anton Yelchin's bubbly, spirited Chekov, or Simon Pegg's delightful Scotty. Even smaller parts, like Bruce Greenwood's Captain Pike are strongly performed, establishing a stable ensemble core upon which the movie is allowed to grow and thrive.

On the opposing side of things is a disgruntled Romulan named Nero (Eric Bana), whose misunderstanding of the circumstances of the destruction of his planet lead to him torturing people, committing genocide, and, oddly, trying to be charming. I imagine that Bana (or maybe director J.J. Abrams) wanted Nero to be a character with more depth than just an angry guy, but when he acts faux-pleasant toward people he's torturing, it undermines a lot of his intensity. Then again, if my planet had just been blown to shit and I was willing to wait around for 15 or so years to seek revenge without changing my clothes, I would probably be seeking a little companionship too. I'm also wondering if there was any dissension among Nero's ranks. Sure, I'd be mad, too, but 15 years is a long time to wait, maybe long enough to get tired of living on a ship and think about finding a nice planet to settle back down on?

Regardless, the black hole that allows Nero to seek out his revenge also provides the opportunity for the rest of Star Trek canon as we know it to get blown to itty-bitty poppa Kirk sized pieces. There's even a little spiel that goes on between Bones and Spock, wherein Spock explains that the events of the movie have created an alternate timeline, so anything goes! Despite this freedom, Abrams is also very respectful of Trekkie fandom. There are enough references (not to mention the cameo) and nods to the original series to make any casual fan say "Hey! I think that subtext was for me!"

From beginning to nearly the end, Star Trek maintains a constant, energetic devotion to entertainment. It's funny, action-packed, and sometimes even heart-felt. And, I'm sure I'll feel the same way when I watch it for the fourth time.

Rating: 4.0 stars