Star Trek (J.J. Abrams, 2009) Review

Well, everyone is going mad over the sequel actually getting some promotion and I would be lying if I said that I wasn't excited. Sure, it's not top of my list but just the idea of Benedict Cumberbatch of being a part of it has to account for something, right? With that in mind, I thought it has high time that we take a look at the film that brought Star Trek back into the public eye. Is it truly that good or just overrated? Let's find out!

After the birth of James Kirk, his father (Chris Hemsworth) is killed in an effort to stop an unknown alien enemy while on the search for Ambassador Spock who is also a child on the planet Vulcan. Did I not mention the alien enemy, named Nero (Eric Bana), could time travel? Twenty Five years later, Kirk (Chris Pine) is now a trouble maker  however he is challenged by Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) to join the Starfleet in order to see his potential. He is joined by Spock (Zachary Quinto), Uhara (Zoe Saldana), Sulu (John Cho) and Chekov (Anton Yelchin) but trouble brews when Nero returns. Now the Starship Enterprise and it's crew must save the galaxy from Nero.

First, let's be honest, this wouldn't be that great if it weren't for the Star Trek licence. It would just be another Sci-Fi film with explosions everywhere. What makes it good is the characters and what they go through. Okay, Nero is a bit of a bland villain but characters like Kirk and Scotty (Simon Pegg) are actually quite funny. That wins points in a film like this. I don't like it when they take themselves too seriously so having characters with great writing helps make things better. Not a fan of Quinto though...

Well I might as talk about the action since that's what 3/4 of the film is. It's a bit generic. All it is is space ships exploding most of the time. Unlike other bland sci-fi films, there are some interesting scenes such as the orbital skydiving scene. It was pretty damn cool especially when seeing it in the cinemas. The biggest problem is just how unoriginal it is. The main reason that this isn't a bad film (other than the Star Trek) is the characters and anything OTHER than the bland action (you know, excluding those exceptions),

Star Trek was a nice attempt at breathing new life into the franchise and while it does seem a bit generic at times, it was still a blast. Sure it's not perfect but, despite it's flaws, I still enjoyed this and am excited for the sequel....mainly for Cumberbatch but...still.....okay I'm done here. You want some Christmas reviews? I might get on that...

Verdict:
6.5/10
An enjoyable film but has many flaws. The good things include the characters and some great scenes.