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Star Trek Movie Review

Star Trek is a 2009 science fiction action film directed by J. J. Abrams and starring Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto. It’s a very disappointing, overly modernized take on this franchise.

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“If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains,

however improbable, must be the truth“

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James Kirk, a brash young man, and Spock, an alien with human and Vulcan blood, join the crew of the USS Enterprise to combat Nero, a member of the Romulan race who wants to destroy multiple planets. I watched this movie for the first time some nine years ago and I did end up liking it, quite a bit actually. Watching it for the second time, I did not care for it at all.

What changed? Well, the lack and presence of beforehand knowledge to be exact. Yes, my personal example perfectly signifies just how different your experience of watching the Star Trek movie franchise can range depending on whether or not you’ve watched the shows themselves. Before, I did not, so I liked the movie, not knowing anything about the series. Now, after seeing all the major shows, I have to say that this movie is a total waste of time for the Trek fans.

Yes, J. J. Abrams is famous for doing this, but he basically just took the same characters and storylines and did them, but with the added action that is excessive to the point of becoming a true nuisance. Star Trek was never about the action. It was about philosophical discussions and meaningful character moments. This movie has none of that. It just has the tech babble and that’s it basically.

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The characters are good, I will give them that. The same goes for the acting as this team of actors was well chosen and quite strong. The acting might be even better than in the previous movies, though that is questionable of course. I liked Pine and Quinto lot. Both fitted their roles like a glove, a great example of typecasting when it’s done right. They are excellent in their dynamic and performances.

But I did not need to see the origin stories of these famous characters. That was totally unimportant and it stalled the first half of this film significantly. Among others, Zoe Saldana and Anton Yelchin are quite good while Simon Pegg is his standard funny British self, which did not quite fit this franchise to be honest, but he was fun. Captain Nero played by Eric Bana is an okay, but forgettable villain.

This Star Trek has excellent special effects given its age. It was also very well shot, very well acted and solidly scored. The problem is that the direction from Abrams is serviceable as usual and the dialogue is far from great. The movie can be fun, but all that extensive action ruined its enjoyment for me.

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