By the late 2000’s the ‘Star Trek’ franchise was in an ignominious state. ‘Nemesis’ didn’t perform well in cinemas killing off any future big screen ambitions and even on TV ‘Enterprise’ suffered a curtailed run. Part of this was down to increased competition from the likes of ‘Star Wars’ and changing appetites along with that, that was leaning more towards more spectacle and action for your buck. The TV landscape was also changing, with ‘Star Trek’ inevitably suffering from fatigue, there were more TV channels and therefore repeats enabling people to enjoy the good old days of the ‘Original Series’ and ‘Next Gen’ at very little expense. Plus the introduction of DVD meant that entire box sets of a series could be released and whilst not as affordable as it would ultimately become, it was at least accessible. The archive was making some decent money so it does I am sure to some high up seem silly to keep producing and financing TV series and movies that were increasingly risky and struggling to balance the books.
Dovetailing beautifully with that was the rise of the big screen reboot. Taking favourably remembered and familiar brands and nostalgia and capitalising upon that to get bums on seats even if it does bastardise the source material. Anything that people vaguely remembered from their past or just culture has some currency and it was only a matter of time before they got around to ‘Star Trek’.
The problem with ‘Star Trek’ is that the fans are irritatingly organised, protective and vocal, especially in the age of the internet. Whilst mostly benign, prod that hornet’s nest and all hell could break loose which is bad for publicity. Like many franchises there is, rightly or wrongly, a sense of ownership. Shows like ‘Star Trek’ mean a great deal to a great number of people and someone cynically exploiting the name or the contents for profit will not go down well. It’s not that anyone intends to make a bad film, it’s just when priorities get mixed up then quality can fall by the wayside ahead of profit.
So ‘Star Trek’, the movie is an excellent example of the reboot done right. It has the sheer brass neck to have its cake and eat it. It reboots the universe but justifiably makes things different to suit its own ends whilst also maintaining its links to the past to make it one consistent narrative, validating it in the context of everything that went before with the old ‘time travel’ and ‘changing history’ plot device. It is convenient but not contrived.
The plot is relatively straightforward as it is an origin story, something that has proven very popular with the rise of the superhero franchises. But also it offers something new, something never seen in the original ‘Star Trek’ series. So it is quite fortunate for this reboot, it is able to offer something ‘Star Trek’ has never had before…. a beginning. But this origin story is latched onto the simple revenge plot as a framework and it works brilliantly and not in the way you would expect.
This is clear from the opening scenes. We hear the familiar bridge ‘bonging’ noise, and a familiar saucer comes into view, but it isn’t the Enterprise, it juxtaposes the new and the familiar as the Kelvin is unlike any ship we have seen before. Of course the ship is investigating some kind of anomaly from which emerges possibly the biggest ship seen in ‘Star Trek’ history dubbed the Nerd. Enter, Nero. A Romulan renegade from the future not so subtly named in order to drive home the roman cultural and social parallels, that are otherwise completely lost. But anyway, we are also introduced to George Kirk, played by a pre-Thor, Chris Hemsworth. In the little screen time he has, he manages to give George Kirk some real charm and personality as well as many of the traits that are similar to the Captain Kirk of the original series. To all intents and purposes this is the classic Kirk, as the Kirk we will ultimately meet is significantly different. When the captain of the Kelvin is killed by Nero in a fit of rage when he finds out they have arrived several decades too early to intercept Ambassador Spock. The Kelvin comes under attack, the order is given to abandon ship, just as heavily pregnant Winona Kirk goes into labour. George is the acting Captain now and has to do the honourable thing to save the rest of the crew and buy them time, crashing the Kelvin into one of the Nerada’s many fronds. This is exactly what Shatner’s Kirk would have done and it is a beautifully executed scene that could have played out as a short film, documenting how James T Kirk came into the universe, in the heat of battle.
Immediately we see what a catastrophic loss Kirk’s father was, as the adolescent Jim steals his step father’s roadster and promptly drives it off a cliff. It is pretty dumb trailer bait, especially how Kirk calls himself James TIBERIUS Kirk to the police officer, and gives rise to one of the most unrealistic ‘cliffhanger’ moments in cinematic history but I get what it is trying to convey. This is a changed Kirk to the one we know, setting up his character journey.
Meanwhile on Vulcan, a young Spock, at the Vulcan Learning Centre has a confrontation with some boys. It is curious to see how Vulcan bullying would manifest itself. But they see him as a subject for study, which is why they try and provoke him in order to witness an emotional response first hand. Or at least that is my reading of it. It depends on whether you consider the logicality of Vulans to be nature or nurture. It could equally be the immaturity of adolescent Vulans causing them to be more susceptible to their emotional urges if they do indeed lie latent within them. Spock even more so. So Spock gives these Vulan assholes a damn good leathering. This whole dilemma looms largely over Spock throughout the film and it does indeed show that all involved profoundly understand the character and how to present him. After the fight, Spock does some soul searching with his father, to understand why he would marry a human. It is one of the great unanswered questions from the original series. Sarek coldly replies that it was ‘logical’ in the absence of any better answer making his human mother seem like a social studies project.
Fast forward to adult Spock who stands before the Vulcan Committee to find out whether he has been accepted into the Vulcan Science Academy. Immediately before he asks his mother if he has done the right thing or whether he should undergo the ritual of kohinor as seen in ‘The Motion Picture’ and purge all emotion. The conflict in Spock’s identity runs very deep here and it is fantastic stuff, the fact that he considers going to such an extreme so early in his life weaves together this very complex character anew. But whilst Spock is accepted into the academy, the head of the committee gives Spock a real back handed insult by coldly attributing his half human heritage as being some kind of handicap. This doesn’t go down well with Spock who tells the academy where to stick their offer and leaves instead for Starfleet. It is an excellently written scene, that adds real depth, substance and conflict to a race that are so rigid and robotic.
Back on Earth, Kirk’s life has taken on a very different path, whiling away his evenings in bars hitting on women. In this instance, cadet Uhura catches his attention. Whilst Uhura is more than capable of handling herself, some other cadets aren’t prepared to tolerate Kirk’s crap and a brawl breaks out, only stopped by the intervention of Christopher Pike.
The decision to bring in the character of Pike, otherwise a footnote in the origins of Star Trek is a masterstroke, which I am sure was appreciated by dedicated fans as it somewhat ties together the two pilot episodes. Giving Pike the role of a mentor, role model and father figure in the absence of Kirk’s actual father generates another unexpected dynamic. Pike is the voice of reason at this turning point in Kirk’s life and one can not help but feel a warmth towards both of them, which is much needed considering the road that Kirk’s character was taking up to this point. It is a life line that Kirk genuinely needs to get his life back on track.
Kirk rides home via the shipyards and quite coincidentally there is the Enterprise being built. It seems quite impractical building a ship like the Enterprise on Earth, which is why it’s a trailer moment. But there is something very prophetic seeing an icon like the Enterprise taking shape. The next day, Kirk rocks up and boards a shuttle for the Starfleet Academy. Is signing up for school as simple as that? Do you have to pay? Also I thought given all the cadets in the bar the previous night we were already near to the campus, otherwise it is a hell of a coincidence that Uhura was also living in Iowa. Anyway, he meets one half cut, divorcee, Leonard McCoy on the shuttle. Again coincidence but the rest is history.
Several years later, Kirk still has one thing on his mind as he is caught in the act with an Orian cadet. So he hasn’t turned a corner just yet. But he is caught by her room-mate Uhura, who hears him under the bed. It’s a nice little throwaway character nod that he is rumbled by Uhura’s sensitive hearing, even if it does border on a superpower in this instance. But their interaction of ‘you’ suggests that their previous encounter occurred recently. Unless Kirk has made a habit of pestering Uhura over the past three years and it is now an unseen running gag. I suppose you could have made a film about the cadet years alone.
I’m inclined to think that Kirk has been antagonising Uhura regularly as the next day, when Kirk is undergoing the infamous Kobayashi Maru test, Uhura is present and correct on the bridge simulator. As is Bones. Whilst it is weird to see Bones stationed at a bridge terminal, do cadets get to choose their own crew? Is it just the same class? Or just coincidence. I guess it isn’t important. Now if you read my ‘Wrath of Khan’ review, you will know that the Kobayashi Maru solution did not sit well with me as Kirk was essentially commended for breaking the rules and therefore not understanding the test. We know he cheated, but in this instance it is done so brazenly. He sits there in the Captain’s chair deploying the ‘cocky character eats an apple in dire situation cliche’ and then the system noticeably reboots and suddenly all of the enemy ships are defenceless. It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t so blindingly obvious, but Kirk doesn’t even try to pretend to take it seriously and clearly something is amiss. However the outcome here is significantly different in that rightfully, Kirk faces an inquiry instigated by Spock, rather than a ‘commendation for original thinking’ putting the two immediately at odds.
A distress call is received from Vulcan and all of the cadets apart from Kirk are forced into commission, which doesn’t make sense. Given how many ships we see depart later, why Starfleet should be so stretched as to commission all their inexperienced cadets doesn’t quite match up. The most capable cadets are assigned to the recently completed Enterprise. Given how far along the Enterprise was last time we saw her, did it really take 3 years to finish her? Also why put all your eggs in one basket? Is there going to be some ship with all the less academically proficient cadets? McCoy infects Kirk with a virus in order to smuggle him aboard the ship as his patient.
Pike takes command of the Enterprise, with Sulu at the helm conveniently due to the usual helmsman suffering from lungworm, but at the same time, the woefully inexperienced Chekov is at navigation with no explanation. Really? Out of everyone Chekov was the best person to plot a course. It would have been neat if Chekov hadn’t been introduced until the sequel to mimic the TV series was really he should still be in his early teens given the age of the rest of the crew. But I am splitting hairs. At this stage we need the crew in place as soon as possible. But no Nurse Chapel or Yeoman Rand?
When Kirk hears the mission briefing and what is happening around Vulcan it clicks with him that he has experienced a similar crisis before. With fat hands and a numb tongue, Kirk races to the bridge to inform the rest of the crew that the same readings were picked up on the day he was born and this must have something to do with the Romulans.
The Enterprise arrives at Vulcan and it seems Nero has made short work of the other Federation ships. How he has managed to do that so quickly given that the Kelvin was only destroyed after crashing into it does seem rather odd. Before the Enterprise can suffer the same fate, Nero identifies the ship registry, recognising that Spock is probably aboard. After making contact with the Enterprise, Pike decides to come aboard and it seems history is about to repeat itself. But unusually Spock is promoted to captain, not Kirk, which again is another unexpected twist given the changes being made to the timeline. Pike organises an away team to disrupt the device the Romulans are using on the planet. The team consists of Sulu, a red shirt and Kirk on the basis of the fact he shouldn’t be there anyway, which is surely the precise reason why Kirk shouldn’t be part of the mission. Also I don’t think it is made clear why the Enterprise doesn’t just open fire on the drill or take a shuttle rather than the more spectacular skydive. I guess it just wouldn’t be a ‘Star Trek’ movie unless someone came up with a needlessly risky and complicated plan.
The away team dive onto the drill and the over excited red shirt is instantly incinerated, leaving Kirk and Sulu to take on a group of Romulans. This is Sulu’s only really significant moment in this film, latching onto the fact he did fencing once so make the most of it. When the drill is disabled, Nero orders the release of the ambiguously named ‘red matter’ into the hole they have made which results in a black hole forming in the centre of the planet. Chekov too gets his only real significant moment and it’s a very amusing one when Sulu and Kirk fall from the drill platform and Chekov legs it through the ship because he knows how he can transport them back to the ship. So why is Chekov at navigation and not on transporters?
Spock however beams down in order to rescue the Vulcan Council who are also unreachable by transporter inside Mount Seleya. Where’s your magic touch now Chekov? But the Enterprise does not try to rescue any accessible Vulcan civilians in the meantime. Spock’s rescue mission is a bit of a disaster as several council members are crushed beneath falling boulders and Winona Ryder, sorry Spock’s mother falls to her death at the last second. Again, where the hell were you Chekov? So he only manages to rescue about 4 people including his father. Although why was Winona with the Vulcan council? She is human? Wouldn’t they have rules against that? Also, what a waste of Winona Ryder. She was only in about two scenes. Then Vulcan implodes and is no more. It is quite something to see something as significant within the Trek universe as Vulcan removed in such dramatic fashion, especially given the aspects of Vulcan society we have seen for the first time in this film alone. It takes away something of a safety blanket and reinforces that this is not simply a retread of what has gone before.
Spock gives us a handy log entry to clarify what is going on. Pike is a prisoner of Nero, we get an idea of how many Vulcans are actually left in existence. He then has a moment in a turbo lift with Uhura. Yes, the relationship between Spock and Uhura is established. I don’t get it. If anything I find it a little creepy and I do not understand the motivation on either side to engage in that. Why would Spock indulge in a relationship with one of his students? No disrespect, but what exactly would Uhura see in Spock? It also throws some shade onto Uhura’s standing. Has she slept her way to the top rather than on her own merits. It wouldn’t be so bad if I could see any other explanation as to why these two would be attracted to each other at all. But also it puts Uhura in an awkward position in the team dynamic. She has more or less taken McCoy’s place at the top table, given how little McCoy gets to do after this point. But it seems she has been thrust into this relationship just to give Uhura something to do. This is something writers have struggled with in previous films and whilst sure she gets more lines and screen time, in another way it does the character a disservice. On the other hand it does make Kirk a bit of a gooseberry, something that becomes more prominent in the next film.
Pike is held captive by Nero, who wants to know the Starfleet defence codes for Earth. Nero really is a weak link in this film. His only motivation seems to be revenge, which is awfully vague. Each time we encounter him, he seems to want something different having achieved the previous objective. His end goal isn’t clear and he just seems to keep meandering from one thing to the next for as long as the film is running. But also we don’t see or learn enough about him to be particularly memorable. There is little nuance in the writing or Eric Bana’s performance, which is very shouty and broad. We do learn that according to him Romulus was destroyed in the future which is intriguing. But as he doesn’t go into detail as to how or why it happened, it is hard to sympathise with him, especially as he has just destroyed a planet himself and would appear to intend to do the same to Earth. He forces a Centaurian Slug down Pike’s throat, which may as well be a Ceti Eel from ‘Wrath of Khan’ as it looks identical and performs the same function. I don’t get what exactly Nero gets from this as we never see or hear Pike tell Nero any secrets or codes.
Aboard the Enterprise, Spock and Kirk are at loggerheads over how to act. Whether to regroup with the fleet or go after the Nerada directly. It is a heart versus head situation, but Spock takes the unprecedented step of immobilising Kirk with a nerve pinch and then ordering him to be thrown off the ship in an escape pod, without protest from other members of the crew. The only reasoning seeming to be that they had an argument. The most Spock should realistically be able to do is put Kirk in the brig.
Kirk comes around on some ice planet, but fortunately he was packaged with some warm clothes. He is pursued by some giant red spider thing, because any sci fi flick worth its salt has to have a big alien chase. To be fair it is well executed and we haven’t actually seen anything like it in ‘Star Trek’ before due to the limitations of CGI effects. The chase leads Kirk to a cave, where the creature is warded off by none other than Spock! Original Spock. Now this really was a treat for the fans but it wasn’t gratuitous. It makes sense in the context of the story they are trying to tell, so the inclusion of Leonard Nimoy does not feel like fan service. But how great it is to see him back in the ears one more time. It just makes so much sense as he effectively links all the previous canon and this reboot together, very succinctly. The fact that it takes place in the context of him as Vulcan Ambassador on Romulus alone is using the continuity to the narratives advantage. So it is logical (no pun intended) for events to play out as they do. He attempts to save the planet from the imminent explosion of a star but was too late. Immediately he was confronted by Nero aboard the Nerada who holds Spock singularly responsible as a traitor to Romulus. 
But both ships were consumed by a disturbance in the resultant black hole and thrust back in time. As revenge, Nero intended to make Spock suffer as he did by destroying his home planet. OK, so far so good. Everything clicks when Kirk brings Spock up to speed and the whole deal with the alternate reality becomes clear, and in this universe Spock is captain of the Enterprise, not Kirk and they are anything but friends. It’s quite tragic when it dawns on Spock, who now removes to do his best to amend the situation. He suggests getting new Spock to relinquish command as he is emotionally compromised. For a Vulcan that would appear to be a contradiction in terms, but old Spock highlights that he just saw Vulcan destroyed and Vulcan or not, that hurts. Having two Spocks does allow us to have a moment of trust between the two characters and a glimpse of the intimacy that they will and have shared. For Spock who has come so far, the fact that he is able to confess that although he might not show it, he does feel deeply about what just happened is extremely significant and gives a much needed window into the mechanics behind the facade of the less experienced Spock.
Old Spock leads Kirk to a Starfleet base not far from the cave. Why he didn’t go there earlier is never explained. Inside they find an anthropomorphised cabbage and one Montgomery Scott. Again, coincidence? I am really on the fence about Simon Pegg’s portrayal of Scotty. It may partially be because James Doohan’s portrayal is inimitable and that Pegg overplays the comedy slightly, venturing into goofy, but hey, it’s fun. Old Spock does cheat a bit or a lot by giving Scotty the equation for transwarp beaming, originally devised by Scotty in the past, or the future, depending on your point of view. I’m not happy with this as it deprives this universe’s Scotty of one of his crowning achievements. If he had nudged Scotty in the right direction to form his own answer, rather than just entering cheat codes, that would have been more satisfying. Nevertheless it gets them back where they’re supposed to be, aboard the Enterprise, or in Scotty’s case, in a water pipe.
Brought to the bridge Kirk does his best to antagonise an already vulnerable Spock, which seems cruel but I guess it’s being cruel to be kind. Although it does result in Spock nearly choking the very breath out of Kirk before relinquishing command, which could have ended very badly given nobody tried to intervene, again. Kirk therefore assumes command on the basis of a last minute appointment by Pike that no one else witnessed other than Spock who has relinquished command. So Kirk cracks on with his plan to go after the Nero and his ship.
Spock goes to the transporter room to pine over his mother and collect his thoughts. There, his father imparts that he married Spock’s mother because he loved her. On one hand it’s a strange thing to do, just to say you married someone because you loved them. I get that it picks up on their exchange earlier but that must have been at least 20 years ago. In which case in all that time, the motivations for Vulcan marital relationships never came up? At the same time, it does emphasise the alienness of the Vulcan culture that ‘love’ is taboo. The consolation is enough for Spock to embrace the feelings that up to now he has made a conscious effort to reject and return to the bridge and cooperate. It’s hard to tell whether he was against Kirk’s pursuit plan out of genuine belief that it was the right thing to do or just out of pig headedness. But now the crew receive their baptism and work together to come up with an effective way of achieving Kirk’s goal. Chekov suggests hiding the Enterprise within Saturn’s rings, using the magnetism to remain undetectable. It’s probably nonsense but gives us a very nice trailer shot of the Enterprise emerging from Saturn’s rings.
The Nerada, in Earth’s orbit drops its newly repaired drill and begins drilling near the Golden Gate Bridge. It is oddly specific and convenient, but completely non sensical. If he wanted to breech the crust of the Earth just to implode it, he would be better off doing it where the curst was already thin. It would save a lot of time. Anyway, Kirk and Spock, now working properly together beam over to the Nerada, somehow without detection. However it counts for little as immediately a shoot out commences. Spock and Kirk manage to locate Old Spock’s ship, the computer of which gives the game away by mistaking Spock for his older counterpart. Kirk asks if Spock can fly the ship, to which Spock says ‘I believe I already have’, which isn’t an answer. It is still technology from centuries into the future that you have yet to learn the principles of. Nevertheless Spock does manage to fly the ship away from the Nerada, while Kirk goes in search of Pike. He nearly gets choked, again (strangulation appears to be the preferred method of murder in this time line) by Nero’s right hand man, only for Kirk to grab the Romulan’s pistol and shoot him. The Romulan falls from the gantry into the depths of the ship, in a shot that would later be copied and pasted into ‘Star Wars The Force Awakens’.
Spock turns his ship, with the Red Matter on board and sets a collision course for Nero’s ship with the intension of consuming both ships with a black hole. Although last time the Red Matter was used, they both ended up going back in time, so who is to say it wont happen again. Nero has a shouting match with Spock over the comms channel, which doesn’t entirely make sense as this is not only a younger Spock, yet to perform any of the alleged actions Nero claims, but also he is a parallel Spock who may never perform any of the alleged actions. As a result the antagonism is awfully one sided, but this doesn’t appear to be the intended effect. Deducing Spock’s plan, Nero gives the order to fire everything. The Enterprise provides covering fire to take out Nero’s missiles, which is a remarkably convenient ability to have, never seen before. Why Nero’s ship is dependent on physical armaments rather than phasers is never explained but it would seem to be a step backwards. When Kirk finds Pike, Pike does the same whilst being unshackled, taking out two other Romulans.
At this point, Scotty achieves the impossible in the nick of time and beams Spock, Kirk and Pike back to the Enterprise simultaneously. It’s at this point I realise that Kirk and Nero have not had a single interaction, either face to face or on screen. Nero has only interacted with Spock, but even then, the wrong Spock. Aside from one shot we haven’t actually seen Nero and Old Spock interact with each other. So the only person he has actually meaningfully interacted with on screen is neither the lead character or the person he actually has a problem with. I’m not saying this is wrong, it’s just not… well… logical. Given this film’s main objective is to establish the crew and their leader, we have the internal struggle, which is arguably the best part of the formation of this unit. Whilst there is an overall threat for the Enterprise and Earth, Kirk doesn’t have any relationship with the main antagonist of the film, which isn’t so satisfying. Whilst Kirk has the benefit of the legacy behind him and similarly Spock. In their own right it is hard to detach them from their predecessors. Some liberties are taken in the formation of their relationship to get it back on track and establish the commonly perceived equilibrium. The biggest casualty is Nero though as he doesn’t play a part in any meaningful character dynamic. The highlight is what he does indirectly to Old Spock and incidentally Young Spock. He is a villain of the week and just isn’t particularly memorable. There is another film in there staring Nero and Old Spock, which is far more nuanced and interesting. If you were to describe Nero on the basis of what we see in this film alone, the only description you can really give him is ‘angry’.
With Spock’s ship crashing into Nero’s, the Red Matter is ignited and begins to implode Nero’s ship. As a token Gene Roddenberry-ism Kirk reaches out to Nero offering to save him, something Spock disagrees with. Nero pretty much spits in Kirks face. So in one fell swoop, this movie pretty much craps on the Trek philosophy and makes clear diplomacy doesn’t work or just isn’t interesting. On top of that Kirk then orders the Enterprise to open fire on Nero’s ship, which is a little bit of overkill. As Nero’s ship is consumed, the Enterprise turns to leg it, only to be caught in the pull of the black hole and nearly torn apart. Really the forces should quite literally obliterate the ship, at the very least fracturing the structural weak points like the nacelles and then probably the neck and saucer before crunching the whole thing down to a singularity. Then an old chestnut is used to resolve the issue, ejecting the Warp core, which makes everything alright again.
Back on Earth, Spock meets Spock, which is a lovely moment and sets the new iteration back on track, as if there was any doubt. It also neatly ties these two timelines together. It’s meaningful and far from gratuitous and it also gives Leonard Nimoy a semi fourth wall breaking moment as if giving this new iteration of not just Spock but also the franchise, his blessing. It validates everything if there was any doubt.
Finally, the crowning achievement is Kirk graduating from the Starfleet Academy, with honours. Which is so much more satisfying than for getting gold stars for cheating. I do still think that getting promoted directly to Captain is slightly premature but that will of course be addressed in the next instalment. Also look! Pike is wearing a Motion Picture uniform! Also how did Pike get a promotion for lying on a bed captured all movie?
So Star Trek is not perfect. I do not think it is the definitive origin story, but it is probably as definitive as we can expect to get. It gets all the pieces in place by the end of the 2 hours, which when you have so many characters is no easy feat. I have picked faults but I am happy to overlook them as the film achieves what it sets out to do successfully, without shaving off too many corners. That is the overwhelming conclusion I can reach about this film. Despite any shortcomings it is a success. It successfully establishes and legitimises its ensemble and universe that exists alongside pre existing canon. It seemingly manages to do the impossible and satisfies the mass and casual audience, and the fans, which is an achievement not to be sniffed at. It is such a shame that the next film will somehow manage to do exactly the opposite.
So savour the final moments of Star Trek as Leonard Nimoy recites the closing monologue before descending directly into a triumphant rendition of the original series theme.
Nerd World Problems 