REVIEW: Star Trek XI / Zero

The premise for the film is this - if the existing back story doesn't fit your current needs, change it.

So that's what they did.

Under the direction of JJ Abram, whose previous movies include Lost and Mission Impossible III, the Star Trek XI (or Zero - depending on your preference) tells the story of the original bunch of
Trekkers, but when they were kids.

Yep, William Shatner as an angst ridden teen (minus William Shatner).

So the story goes something like this ...

Some baddy comes back more than 100 year in time to kill Spock who's drifted into a wormhole, only to bump into Kirk's dad. He promptly kills daddy and sets about searching for Spock ... but instead bumps into Spock, before finding Spock. He then forces Spock to watch as he goes on a massive destructive killing spree while Spock and Kirk try to stop him.

Ok, you may get a sense of de ja vu, and there won't have been a wormhole anywhere near your quadrant, but that's Star Trek for you.

So what unfolds is a massive change in the Star Trek continuum. Forget all what you know about Kirk and co, and all that back story. This is new and, well, improved.

There's some nice little nods to the Star Trek universe with references to Admiral Jonathan Archer and some neat little threads between old and new Star Trek universes.

But the best thing about the entire shenanigan is the new actors who've taken on the mantle so well.

Chris Pine is excellent as Kirk, Zachary Quinto (aka the bloke from Heroes) is great as Spock and Karl Urban is brill as bones. And there's even a Brit in there for good measure in the form of Simon Pegg as a very funny Scotty. And Leonard Nimoy even takes a strong starring role playing Spock Prime, looking remarkably trim for a 155 year old. [I had to Google that - click here to see for yourself.]

Just one thing that still bothers me ... if there was no Ta Pau, that means we would never have had a Carol Decker. Noooooooooooo.

Star Trek - Trailer