Star Trek is back in a bold way with a new film from J.J. Abrams. Where the franchise had been struggling to grasp an audience, and seemingly fading to obscurity, new Director Abrams has infused Star Trek with youth and a breathe of fresh air.
Star Trek 2009
Rather than add a new chapter to the Star Trek saga, the new film goes back to the beginning in an effort to reveal how things got started for the crew of the Starship Enterprise. It's a good idea, and gives a lot of new areas that stories can cover. It was probably one of the reasons that Abrams wanted to come on board, because it gave him almost a free reign to go in any direction he wanted.
The movie has basically three main characters, consisting of James T. Kirk, Spock, and the villain Nero. Kirk is living out in the farmlands of Iowa, not really doing anything with his life until he is finally challenged by an officer visiting the area. For Spock, he takes a different route, sitting at the top of his class, and working towards assured greatness. They come across each other for the first time at an academy designed to produce star-ship crews.
The Stars of Star Trek
The thing that works best for Star Trek is the young (and attractive) cast. Chris Pine comes in as Kirk, Zachary Quinto comes over from Heroes to play Spock, and Eric Bana plays Nero. Then there is Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho and Anton Yelchin as the rest of the main crew. Together they all spice up the screen, and provide an interesting look at a young Star Trek.
Star Trek Recommendations
It is a sure bet that the average Star Trek fan will come away from this film with a high level of enjoyment. The presentation is very well done, and mixes a lot of action with a unique blend of humor and originality that keeps the film moving even where it could have been dull. Great camera tricks are accentuated by some spectacular looking special effects, and there is just enough action to keep even the average film-goers happy.
By using the younger cast, and by telling a story where the viewer doesn’t need to know anything going into the theater, J.J. Abrams might just have a real winner on his hands here. The story feels fresh and new, everything is explained well enough to not lose any newcomers, and there is just enough of a nostalgic feel to the film that even die-hards will come away enjoying most of it. The slight down-side for some could be that there is a lot of straying from original source work, but it may have been necessary to completely regenerate the franchise.
Star Trek Box Office Predictions
Appearing on more than 3,800 screens during its opening weekend, Star Trek could easily approach $100 in box office sales, and quickly kick up talk of a sequel. The film is good enough to stand on its own, but there is enough material to warrant more films in this series. Good word of mouth will be key now, and though the film was built well, they still need to put people in the seats.
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