Star Trek Movie (2009) - a Fresh Start - the Good and the Bad

The 11^th Star Trek movie, directed by J.J. Abrams, and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, stars a new cast with Leonard Nimoy in an important supporting role as an older Spock from the future. Overall the movie does a great job and may well revive the Star Trek franchise. It is, however, far from perfect.

The Star Trek Movie Script

Bringing in writers from Mission Impossible III makes the movie appealing to a broader audience than just 'Trekkies' by reducing to a minimum scenes where one character describes to another why something everyone knows is impossible is actually happening. The writers can be forgiven for two instances.

In the first, Spock from the future explains to the young Kirk the disaster that started the current crisis. By giving the explanation through a 'mind meld' viewers are able to see the action, not just two characters talking.

The second instance is where Spock from the future describes to the young Montgomery Scott how to 'beam' himself and Kirk to the Enterprise while the ship is in 'warp' at interstellar distances. Here the writers avoid a pitfall by limiting the explanation to Spock showing the engineer formulas the latter developed in the future, without subjecting viewers to extensive made-up jargon.

Orci, Kurtzman, and Abrams brought into the movie the type of action more typical of Indiana Jones and Star-Wars. Kirk appears Indy-like, jumping out of a speeding car just before it hurtles off a cliff, or being chased by a ravening bear-like creature, saved when a giant cross between a spider and a praying mantis kills the bear-like monster, only to take over the chase. Even falling off a cliff and escaping into an ice cave don't save Kirk. That has to be done by the older Spock, whose presence in the cave is a far-fetched coincidence - a weak point in the script.

Space battles, main characters marooned on frozen worlds, sword fights, were all prominent in Star-Wars, and made that franchise appealing to a broad audience of Sci-Fi and action buffs. Star Trek used the same elements before, but this Star Trek movie mixes them better than most. The tech looks much better than in Classic Trek (no surprise in this age of CGI), and although it doesn't match the original NCC-1701, with this Enterprise's multiple weapons ports all around the saucer the coolness factor should smooth down any ruffled Trekkie feathers.

Action sequences show much more realistic responses to danger from characters, with confusion and panicked runs for escape shuttles. Engineering spaces seem more realistic, and battle damage is shown, not just mentioned verbally by 'damage control parties' reporting over communicators. Some action sequences, such as the Mission Impossible-like dive from orbit onto a giant hanging drill head, are far less believable, but are cool enough to get a pass.

The choice of 'Romulans' as villains makes sense given they arrive from a future where 'Klingons' are allies of the 'Federation.' It also works well with the older Spock's work trying to win over the Romulans, putting him in place for the disaster that sets off the villain.

Continuity with Previous Star Trek Movies and Series
The Star Trek Movie opens an alternate timeline, providing an almost automatic pass on any failures to hew to previous movies or series. The one significant exception is the latest TV series, Star Trek Enterprise, where the first captain is Archer, not Pike, and more importantly, where Earth is not a principle planet of the Federation but rather a backwards planet alternately coddled and manipulated by 'Vulcan.' Given the (justified) lack of success of this TV series, any departure from it should be lauded.

The Star Trek Movie provides a quick but interesting and well done review of Spock's development from childhood (minus his pet 'sehlat' and his coming of age desert trek). Having said that, showing Spock and Uhura kissing several times flies in the face of the Spock character as developed in Classic Trek. What about the '7-year mating cycle' that precluded his responding to Nurse Chapel in the original series? For a general audience this provides the bit of romance Hollywood seems to require in any movie, but the new departure may stick sideways in Trekkie craws.

Another discrepancy is the almost completely nonchalant response to the death of the planet Vulcan. In a Classic Trek episode, the telepathic death cries of a crew of 430 Vulcans shakes Spock. Here, billions of Vulcans are killed, yet none of the surviving Vulcans appear fazed by it (aside from Spock mentioning he is now a member of an endangered species).

Star Trek Movie Script Weaknesses

The destruction of Romulus in the 24^th century by a supernova as the underlying cause of the crisis and conflict is interesting, and (granting suspension of disbelief necessary in Sci-Fi) plausible. It explains how and why the Romulan captain Nero and his mining ship Narata come after the Federation in the past. However, what isn't made clear is how Spock failed to prevent the disaster, or at least recognize in advance a low likelihood of success.

It is also unclear why Nero believes getting rid of the Federation or Spock would prevent the ultimate destruction of his home world. After all, Spock did not cause the supernova, he merely failed to suck it into a black hole soon enough.

Although Romulans in previous Star Trek installments were not as rational and logical as Vulcans, they were known to be shrewd. This being the case, why would Nero engage in a quest for vengeance in the past, when he could have instead hooked up with Spock, traveled forward in time to just before the supernova exploded (using the same 'red matter' that brought them both into the past), and then destroyed the supernova early enough to save Romulus?

Adding insult to injury, a brief mention that said supernova would have endangered the universe (or even the galaxy) is ridiculous. Supernovas occur on a regular basis in our galaxy and in all others. In fact, supernovas are the means by which heavier elements are dispersed in planets, allowing our existance. Without carbon, we'd have no proteins, no fats, no sugars, and no DNA. Without iron, we'd have no hemoglobin in our blood.

Star Trek Movie Script Technical Flaws

When the Enterprise arrives above Vulcan (ingeniously delayed by an inexperienced Sulu's error) it has its shields up thanks to a timely warning by Kirk. However, it suffers external damage due to collision with wreckage from the other Federation ships destroyed minutes earlier by the Narata. Oops.

Speaking of the Narata, how does a mining ship come to have so many torpedoes it can destroy a 49-ship Kilngon armada and later an armada of Federation battle cruisers, even if they are from 200 years in its past? How does the Narata survive a kamikaze collision with the U.S.S. Kelvin, though Kirk Sr. would have certainly done his best to destroy it, e.g. by causing an intentional 'warp core breach' - a favorite in many previous Star Trek movies and episodes?
One final issue with the Narata - why would it need to lower its drill-head deep into the atmosphere (deep enough to allow Sulu and Kirk to carry out a fight with swords and fists without using respirators)? If the energy beam is powerful enough to drill through thousands of miles of rock and magma, why would a few hundred miles of rarified gas be a problem?

This movie shares with other Star Trek movies and series, as well as Star-Wars, etc. the same ridiculous sounds made by ships and weapons in space. Folks, "in space no-one can hear you scream" - no air means no sound, even with 22^nd or 24^th century technology.

Finally, a pet peeve. Political Correctness changed the opening lines of the Classic Star Trek "to seek out new worlds and new civilizations, to boldly go where no MAN has gone before" (my emphais) to the version used in Star Trek the Next Generation "where no ONE has gone before." The Star Trek Movie uses the lines as in TNG. Guys, if no-one has gone there before, why would you expect to find new civilizations there?

Bottom Line - the Star Trek Movie is Good Entertainment for Sci-Fi/Action Buffs

It's almost impossible to come in to a franchise after five series and ten movies and make something fresh and entertaining. Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman have done a great job doing just that. If you're not a Sci-Fi or action fan, you will likely not appreciate this movie. However, if you are, even if Star Trek isn't your thing, you're still likely to enjoy it. While not perfect, this movie is well worth watching.