I’ve seen the new Star Trek movie and thought I’d give a brief review. Firstly I’ll say I’m not a Trekkie. I’ve seen the odd episode and movie, but never really got into it nor followed it. I did have a flatmate once who was a Trekkie, and I learnt most of what I know through him.
Babylon 5 was the first SF show I really followed – only missed one episode in the five years it was on. Since then Firefly and Doctor Who have also been SF shows I’ve really enjoyed.
But back to the movie. Warning, there will be spoilers.
The movie has been called a reboot of the Star Trek universe. And that it is. Time travel is involved which totally rewrites Star Trek history. That is if you consider it canon, which some Trekkies aren’t.
The movie starts with the Federation Starship Kelvin investigating an anomaly in space, from which emerges a vast spaceship of unknown origin. Following the death of the captain, the first officer orders the evacuation of the crew, including his wife who is in labour. He stays behind to cover the evacuation, but before he dies, his wife gives birth to a son whom they name James Tiberius Kirk.
Hang on, Kirk’s father doesn’t die in canon say the Trekkies.
Ah, but this is the reboot Star Trek universe. Without going into too many details and spoilers, an event in the far future causes an event in the past that rewrites history. Yes, we are talking time travel here. Not exactly a surprise in the Star Trek universe.
This time it is a little different. At the end of the movie this alternate reality hasn’t been reset and history continues down the other trouser leg of time. It is a neat trick that allows them to, in the future, write further movies that, while set in the Star Trek universe, aren’t beholden to the old canon.
The movie itself is a lot of fun and has a number of call outs to the past; the obligatory red shirt, the green alien chick for young Kirk and familiar lines.
It is also an accessible movie for those who haven’t seen Star Trek before, and not just for the Trekkies, which The Onion had a go at in the following clip.
Mist and Shadows 