Abrams gives new life to Star Trek franchise
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Trek London premier delivers a belter of a prequel.
If you thought that Star Trek movies had been mired forever by Nemesis, thank JJ Abrams for rescuing a doomed movie franchise. The new Star Trek had its UK premier in London’s Leicester Square last night, and did not disappoint.
Anticipation for the new movie has been mixed. Trek fans have learned to be cautious when a new instalment to the canon is being announced; there’s more flux in the success of Star Trek films than there is in a warp capacitor.
Adding to the already nervous tension of a new Trek film, is that dreaded word “prequel”. Fans of that other Star-related science fiction saga had their happy childhood memories distorted and trashed when George Lucas decided to come up with The Phantom Menace. So on reflection, it’s understandable that Trekkies across the galaxies were a little worried.
Fortunately, thanks to Abrams and his team that worry was misplaced. Star Trek seems to have achieved the impossible, bridging that difficult gap between extremes. There is a perfect balance in the movie, with enough to satisfy the die hard fans without alienating the newcomers to the franchise. Not only does the film look stunning and ultra modern, it’s also lovingly nostalgic with nods towards the original designs from the 1960s.
Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto deliver superb performances as the iconic characters of Kirk and Spock, which encapsulate the essence of the original blueprints left by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy without being copycat impressions.
Hot Fuzz star Simon Pegg, who takes on the mantle of engineer Scotty once quipped in his comedy Spaced that: “There are some things in life that are just fact; and one of those facts is that every odd-numbered Star Trek movies is shit.” Little could Mr Pegg have known that ten years later he would be a part of a dramatic exception to the rule.
Maybe the Star Trek odd-numbered curse is over. Star Trek 10 (Nemesis) was terrible, so maybe it’s the odd numbered ones that will kick butt now. Can’t wait to see this flick and Simon Pegg. I hope we have a chance to see Chris Doohan, he’s pretty handsome.
Let’s hope this is the beginning of a completely new Star Trek series…