After Nemesis, Paramount waited a whole seven years to start over. One of the ideas that the great Gene Roddenberry thought about way back when was revisiting Kirk and Spock in their younger years at Starfleet Academy. And while this was not it exactly, Star Trek (2009) was made to start everything over.
Paramount brought in the next Steven Spielberg to helm the franchise’s reboot. J.J. Abrams will tell you that he was more of a Wars fan than a Trek fan. And you can tell. While the film showcased starships with discs and nacelles, there was a bunch more running, shooting, explosions, and lens flare than Trek fans were used to.
We met a different version of The Original Series, created by a fluke in the space-time continuum. This allowed for everything to be a bit different, yet the same. This also happened after the CBS/Viacom split, which made sure that the films would have to be different. More on that here.
The crew was recast — all except for Leonard Nimoy, who returned as Spock. Funny, the guy who didn’t want to come back to play Spock in the late 70s is back again in the 2000s.
This new take on Trek was well-received (by some) and spawned two sequels.
STARDATE: 2233.04
The film begins with the U.S.S. Kelvin investigating something huge. Turns out that it’s a giant Romulan mining ship, and without warning, it attacked Kelvin with torpedoes. Kelvin responded with phasers, but the warp drive was lost almost immediately.
Yep. That’s how it started. We don’t get names, roles, or even a stardate for some time. That rattled some longtime Trek fans. “It started differently!”
Just as the Kelvin’s captain ordered the evacuation of his ship, a Romulan contacted them, demanding that he meet the Romulan commander on their ship. His refusal would be “unwise.”
As the captain walked off the bridge, he took his first officer with him. “If I’m not back in 15 minutes, evacuate the crew,” he ordered. The first officer agreed.
“Aye captain,” said the first officer. The captain turned to him before the turbolift doors closed.
“You’re captain now, Mr. Kirk.”
The captain arrived on a lower deck. Before the doors opened, the audience saw the shaft of the turbolift exposed, a tube among many tubes. For anyone who knows anything about ocean-going ships, or spacecraft, there’s not a lot of room on either. That was one of the genius moves by Nicholas Meyer in Star Trek II. He made the Enterprise cramped and small, as most naval ships are today. The vast spaces inside the Kelvin made it hard to suspend disbelief.
The captain boarded a shuttlecraft and navigated to the Romulan ship.
Sorry to pause again — but the bay doors on the exterior of the Romulan ship looked just like the ones of V’Ger. I assumed that was a purposeful decision and was meant to be a throwback to the 1979 feature.
As the captain landed and exited the shuttlecraft, he was immediately grabbed by Romulan guards and brought before their commander. The Romulans asked if the captain recognized a Vulcan ship. The captain asked who their commander was, and they told him that they would speak for Captain Nero.
“Then ask Captain Nero,” he said. “What gives him the right to attack a Federation vessel?”
Nero said nothing. He (played by Eric Bana) was bald, with tattoos and whiskers. Kind of like a Romulan version of Voldemort — with a nose.
His assistant asked if the Kelvin’s captain knew the location of Ambassador Spock. The captain said he was not familiar with Spock. The Romulans then asked what the current stardate was. He answered and asked, “where are you from?”
At that question, Nero leaped up and stabbed the captain in the heart with a lance. The crew of the Kelvin, who had been monitoring their captain’s vital signs, knew as soon as he died. They also saw that they were under attack by the Romulan ship.
George Kirk (played by Chris Hemsworth, aka “Thor”), shouted orders and took command during the attack. He called for an evacuation, which included his very pregnant wife. Kirk took command of the Kelvin and realized that autopilot was not an option. He ordered Shuttle 37 (with his wife on board) to leave. Mrs. Kirk gave birth as the shuttle veered away from danger.
A note on the Kelvin: Unlike past Trek ships, which usually had a few places where phasers and torpedoes were launched from, the Kelvin had dozens of small cannons mounted all over the place. This was one of the things that upset the Trekkie diehards — the “Star Warsification” of Trek. But in many ways, this borrowing and modifying has been going on for years and years.
Kirk aimed the Kelvin at the Romulans and spoke to his wife after he heard the cries of a new baby over the radio. Mrs. Kirk suggested that they name the baby after George’s father, “Tiberius.” George said that was the worst, and asked to name him after her father, Jim. Moments later, he died as the Kelvin impacted the Romulan vessel, which we learn later was called the “Narada.”
The scene changes to one more familiar. A young man drove a 200-year-old Chevrolet Corvette through the dry highways of Iowa. His stepdad called to order him to return with the car, but the child hung up the phone. He then turned on the stereo to a Beastie Boys song and drove the car off the side of a cliff.
A police officer, who had been in pursuit, asked the young man his name. The kid, who nearly went over the edge with the car, said: “My name is James Tiberius Kirk.”
“The contrary. Nero’s very presence has altered the flow of history, beginning with the attack on the U.S.S. Kelvin, culminating with the events of today. Therefore creating a new chain of incidents which cannot be anticipated by either party.”
At the same time, on the planet Vulcan, a young Spock was in a classroom of sorts. It looked more like a warehouse of Jacuzzis, but instead of water, the pools were full of display screens. Questions of all types were flying past him, both audio and visual. Spock answered them one after the other.
NOTE: This was not unlike what Spock did at the start of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home when he had to retrain his mind and memory after it was separated from his body.
When he emerged from his “learning pit,” a group of Vulcan boys began to bully Spock, as he was half human and half Vulcan. He resisted at first until the called Spock’s father, a traitor, and his mother, a “human whore.”
Sarek came to “the office” to pick up his son and immediately started to lecture about emotions and logic. Spock asked Sarek that he asked his son to behave entirely like a Vulcan, while his father married a human. Sarek said it was his duty, as Vulcan ambassador to Earth, to observe human behavior, and marrying his mother was logical.
Sarek told him that he had the power to choose his own destiny. Only Spock could decide.
Years later, we meet a Spock in his 20s, whose mother is doting on him. Spock asked his mother if he should complete the ritual known as Kolinahr, which would help him shed the last of his human emotions. Zackary Quinto now played Spock.
NOTE: This was the same thing Spock was trying to do at the start of ST:TMP. That was where Spock suddenly sensed a presence in the galaxy… V’Ger!
Spock’s mom, played by Winona Ryder, told her son that whatever he chose to be, he would have a proud mother.
Later, Spock stood before the Vulcan Science Academy, where his worthiness was being judged. They said his record was flawless, except that he also put in an application for Starfleet. They accepted him, despite his “disadvantage” — meaning that he was half-human.
Spock followed up on what precisely the disadvantage was. They replied, “your human mother.” Spock then declined admission. The minister said no Vulcan had ever declined. Spock said that as he was only half Vulcan, their streak is not broken.
Sarek told Spock that he swore to follow the Vulcan way. Spock said he only felt gratitude and told them to “live long and prosper.”
Back in Iowa, we join Uhura at a crowded and noisy bar full of Starfleet cadets, aliens, and others. She ordered some Budweisers and Cardassian sunrises. I wonder how those stack up to Romulan ale. As she ordered, a drunken James T. Kirk wobbled up to the bar. He tried to buy her drinks, but she refused. He was flirting with her in a way that the Shatner version of Kirk never did. Except in that one episode.
Uhura, played by Zoe Saldana, would not tell Kirk her first name. But she did say to him that she was studying xenolinguistics, which is the study of alien language and communications.
A large Starfleet cadet walked over and asked Uhura if Kirk was bothering her. She said that he was. Kirk told the cadet to calm down and called him cupcake. They started a massive row in the bar — Kirk versus four cadets. It did not go well.
But just as Kirk, played by Chris Pine, was getting his face pounded on a bar table, Captain Christopher Pike stopped the fight. Pike ordered all Starfleet personnel out of the bar.
When the bar was quiet, Pike told Kirk that he cut his teeth on the Kelvin, under George Kirk’s tutelage. He said Kirk that his father did not believe in a “no-win scenario.”
NOTE: This is exactly what Kirk told Saavik in Star Trek II! Nice!
Pike told Kirk that his spirit was missing from Starfleet and that he was too smart not to be doing something with his life. He told Kirk to enlist in Starfleet and that he could be an officer in four years, and have his own command in eight.
Pike told Kirk that his father was captain for just 12 minutes and saved thousands of lives, including Kirk’s own mother. He challenged Kirk to do the same.
After Pike left, Kirk picked up a salt shaker in the shape of a Starfleet vessel and thought. Later, he rode his motorcycle to the drydock to watch a ship under construction. He then boarded a recruitment shuttle and told Pike that he’d finish the academy in just three, rather than four years.
Onboard the shuttle, he sat in an empty seat, which would soon be filled by a Dr. Leonard McCoy (played by Karl Urban). As McCoy sat down, he told Kirk that he would “probably throw up” on him. Kirk said that he thought the shuttlecraft were pretty safe. McCoy disagreed, and rattled off a massive list of things that can happen to a human being while in space.
He then said he lost everything in a recent divorce… all she left him with was his bones. They then both took a swig from McCoy’s tiny flask and introduced themselves.
Three years later… the Narada arrives at a spot in which they believe something should be there. But there is nothing. Nero said that they’d continue to wait for the “one who allowed our home to be destroyed” as they had been doing for the last 25 years.
Nero said that he would not kill “him,” but rather, he would “make him watch.” Just then, a small Vulcan ship appeared from inside a wormhole. Nero ordered that his men capture the ship.
“Welcome back, Spock,” said Nero.
Meanwhile, at Starfleet Academy, Kirk and McCoy were talking as they left an academic building. Kirk told Bones that he was going to take “the test” again. McCoy said that he didn’t have time to watch Kirk fail the Kobayashi Maru for the third straight time. As Kirk left, he said that he needed to study.
That meant Kirk was rolling around in a dorm room with a Starfleet Cadet, who happened to be an Orion (remember them, from The Cage) and Uhura’s roommate, named Gaila. Uhura stormed into the room unexpectedly, and Kirk had to hide under the bed. Uhura said that she received and decoded a message from the Klingon, which detailed the destruction of 47 of their ships.
But, Gaila (played by Rachel Nichols) asked Uhura one too many questions about when Uhura would be going back to work. Uhura then realized that there was a man in the room, and told Kirk to leave.
Kirk got up, gathered his clothes, and complimented Uhura on how she was able to translate the message from the Klingons.
The next day, Uhura was talking to Kirk again, except this time, it was on the bridge of a Starfleet testing simulator. It was the Kobayashi Maru test. Again.
NOTE: The simulator room used the same sounds that were in the Kobayashi Maru test, which was featured in Star Trek II.
Kirk arrogantly walked through each challenge of the test and shocked everyone as he easily beat the various layers of the simulation. Kirk hacked the test, and sat in the captain’s chair, eating an apple.
NOTE: In ST:II, Kirk ate an apple as he described to Saavik how he beat the Kobayashi Maru test. Nice throwback/tie in!
The staff running the test were puzzled as to how Kirk beat the unbeatable. Especially Mr. Spock, who was the Kobayashi Maru’s chief architect.
Later, the Commandant of Starfleet Academy, Admiral Richard Barnett, called all cadets and faculty to a special meeting. The commandant, played by Tyler Perry, said Kirk had been accused of cheating on the Kobayashi Maru test.
Kirk asked to face his accuser. Spock rose and testified that Kirk installed a program that changed the conditions of the test. Kirk argued that the test itself was “a cheat,” because Spock programmed it to be unwinnable.
Spock said that Kirk’s argument means that he would not face a no-win scenario. Kirk said that he did not believe in a “no-win scenario.” (Again, Kirk said this in ST:II).
The Vulcan lectured young Kirk, telling him that “you of all people knows that a captain cannot cheat death.” The crowd gasped. Spock told the story of George Kirk’s death. Spock said that the purpose of the test was to inspire fear so that a cadet could learn to overcome that fear and continue his or her assignment.
The commandant interrupted, saying that they had received a distress call from Vulcan. As the bulk of the fleet was in the Laurentian system, he ordered that all cadets report to Hanger One.
After the meeting broke up, Kirk asked McCoy: “Who was that pointy-eared bastard?” McCoy said that he didn’t know, but he liked him.
In Hanger One, the cadets gathered to learn their new assignment. Kirk found that he was on academic suspension, and would not be assigned to a ship at this time. Bones and Kirk said goodbye, and McCoy parted. After walking away a few steps, McCoy went back to Kirk and told him to “come with me.”
Meanwhile, Uhura was angry that she was assigned to the U.S.S. Farragut when she requested the Enterprise. She stormed up to Spock and demanded that he switch the assignment. He agreed.
McCoy gave Kirk a vaccine for a viral infection of Melvaran mud fleas, which gave him a “flop sweat” and blindness in one eye. McCoy used this to get Kirk on a shuttle bound for the Enterprise.
Onboard, Kirk told McCoy: “I’m gonna throw up on you.”
The shuttle pulled into a spacedock that was more amazing than anything seen in Trek to this point. At its center was a huge glass globe, with six tentacles. Each of these bridges could host 6-7 starships. This globe design must have inspired the Starbase Yorktown, which was featured in Star Trek: Beyond.
It was at this point that audiences got to see the redesigned Enterprise for the first time. It was almost even more sculpted and aerodynamic looking than the Enterprise-D. Almost.
The TOS version of the Enterprise was 948-feet, while the Kelvin version was a whopping 2,379-feet in length. The Enterprise-D was 2,106-feet. Why?
According to internet legend, J.J. Abrams wanted to have George Kirk look as heroic as possible. The easy way to do that was to have a ton of shuttlecraft escaping from the Kelvin at the start of the film. But wait — The Making of Star Trek states that the TOS Enterprise could only house six shuttlecraft. The easy way to fix the problem of only six shuttlecraft escaping from the maelstrom was to make all Federation ships about 2.5 times more massive.
Also, word was that J.J. wanted the Enterprise to share the same massive scale and grandeur that the Imperial Star Destroyers did in that other series of films. So, maybe it was a little of both.
Anyhow, Spock reported to the bridge where Pike gave an excellent little pep talk. He then ordered the ship to “punch it,” which was what Han Solo always said onboard his ship. So for Pike to say it… was just a shame. Pike should have said “hit it” as he does on Star Trek: Discovery.
Hikaru Sulu, the newly installed helmsman, couldn’t get the Enterprise to jump to warp. After a few tense moments, Spock told Sulu to try the external inertial dampeners, which worked, and they were off.
Meanwhile, McCoy walked Kirk down to the sickbay, which looked more like a 21st Century hospital room. The TOS sickbay looked way more futuristic than this take.
On the bridge, Pike asked the navigator: “Russian whiskey, what’s your name?”
“Ensign Chekov. Pavel Andreievich, sir.”
The late Anton Viktorovich Yelchin, who was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, played Chekov in this film series.
The audience is treated to a funny scene where Chekov’s English is a bit rough, and he struggled to get the computer to authenticate his voice. Once he does, he relays a ship-wide message about the Enterprise’s current mission.
Chekov’s message went like this — there’s a lightning storm in space, and Vulcan is now the ship is en route to assist. Apparently, there was seismic activity on Vulcan too. No big deal.
From sickbay, Kirk heard this announcement and went wild. He realized that his fingers had swollen to look like sausages, and he bolted out of his bed. He said that he needed to stop the ship, as they were flying into a trap. McCoy ran after him, saying that he was not well.
Kirk found Uhura and asked her about the Klingon transmission she intercepted. While McCoy gave him multiple shots for a series of hilarious ailments, he was able to get Uhura to confirm that the Klingons said that the Romulans were responsible for the attack.
On Vulcan, Spock’s mother walked out onto her back patio to see a fiery beam plow into the planet’s surface. In orbit, the Narada was responsible for the drilling.
Kirk ran onto the bridge, yelling for Pike to stop the ship. Pike and Spock argued with him, as he explained that this scenario was exactly like the one in which his father died 25 years ago. Uhura told Pike that Kirk was correct on the 47 Klingon ships getting destroyed part of the story.
Spock thought it all made sense. Pike told the crew to scan the area for any transmissions in Romulan. The communications officer admitted that he could not discern between Romulan and Vulcan. Pike replaced him with Uhura.
The crew reported that the Enterprise had lost all contact with the Federation armada. Pike called for red alert and shields to be raised. When they dropped out of warp, the Enterprise appeared in the middle of a dozen wrecked starships.
The Narada fired on the Enterprise almost immediately. Sulu said the shields were down to 32% after just one volley. Spock said that communications were being jammed by a “high-energy pulse device,” which was in the Vulcan atmosphere.
As the Narada crew was about to fire on and destroy the Enterprise, Nero ordered them to stop. He realized that Spock was on that ship. He then hailed the Enterprise and asked for Pike to visit the Narada. Nero called Spock out by name, and said that they hadn’t met “yet.” He told Spock that he wanted Spock to see something.
Pike rose from his chair to head to the shuttle bay. Kirk and Spock told him that Nero would kill him if he went to the Narada. Pike said that he was aware, but ordered Kirk, Sulu and Engineer Olsen to “space jump” and disable the Narada’s beam. He put Spock in charge as acting captain and elevated Kirk to first officer. If all else failed, Pike ordered, the Enterprise would fall back and rendezvous with the rest of the fleet in the Laurentian system. Spock assumed that Pike was joking when he placed Kirk as second in command. Pike said that this was no prank and that Spock was now in charge.
On the Narada, the Romulans readied the “Red Matter,” which was a maroon orb suspended in a chamber. We never get to understand what precisely the Red Matter is, other than its destructive power. They used a syringe to pull out the Red Matter and insert a torpedo-like device.
Spock sat down in the captain’s chair on the bridge and contacted sickbay, where McCoy was now in charge, as the original ship’s doctor had been killed.
On the shuttlecraft, Kirk asked Olsen if he had the charges. Olsen said that he did and that he couldn’t wait to “kick some Roluman ass.” Kirk asked Sulu what his combat training was, and Sulu told him: “fencing.” This was awesome, as it was an unambiguous call-back to TOS episode, “The Naked Time,” where Sulu runs wild on the Enterprise with a sword.
In a pretty cool scene, Kirk, Sulu, and Olsen were sucked out of the rear of the shuttlecraft, and dove headword into Vulcan’s atmosphere. This reminded me of the Australian skydiver, Felix Baumgartner, who jumped from a balloon over New Mexico from 24 miles up back in 2012. Baumgartner didn’t have to destroy a space-drill, but stay alive by not spinning. Was the “Red Bull Stratos” project inspired by Star Trek? Maybe!
Chekov monitored their descent to the drill base and called out how close they were getting. Sulu and Kirk made it, but Olsen did not. He pulled his chute too late and burned up in the beam. He was wearing red. This was another fantastic call back to TOS, where many of the red security officers from the Enterprise would wind up dead.
In a pretty nice action scene, Sulu wound up fighting a Romulan with his sword (which flipped out from a small handle), while Kirk fought another. They eventually beat their opponents and destroyed the platform and the drill itself.
Kirk and Sulu watched the Romulan device launch into the giant hole, which was created by the drill. Chekov calculated that the Romulans’ device would create a black hole inside the core of Vulcan, which would cause the planet to implode. Spock ordered Uhura to alert the Vulcan government to evacuate the planet, as he prepared to beam down and rescue his parents. Spock said they would not be able to beam them out because they would be in the Katric ark, which was carved into stone and underground.
The Romulans retracted the drill, and as they did, Sulu fell. Kirk jumped off as the Enterprise transporter crew was telling them not to move. Kirk grabbed Sulu in mid-air, and Chekov ran from the bridge to the transporter room manually ensure that they would be beamed aboard. As Sulu and Kirk walked off the transporter pad, Spock walked onto it and beamed to the surface of Vulcan.
Spock arrived at the Katric ark and ran through the corridors as it all started to crumble. As Spock, Sarek, and a few other Vulcans were beamed up successfully, Spock’s mother did not make it. The Enterprise escaped as Vulcan crumbled into itself.
Afterward, Spock put and entry into the logs, reporting that Pike is considered a hostage of the “war criminal known as Nero.” Spock thought that out of the six billion who lived on Vulcan, less than 10,000 survived the attack.
Uhura followed Spock into a turbolift and told him that she was “so sorry” and kissed him. She asked him what he needed, and as if he were holding back tears, he told Uhura that he required everyone to “continue performing admirably.” She said, “OK” and kissed him again. That was that.
The Spock/Uhura relationship was a pleasant surprise in the J. J. reboot series. For a change, Kirk was not the one who got the girl.
Meanwhile, on the Narada, Nero asked Pike for the subspace frequencies for Starfleet’s border protection grids, “specifically, those surrounding Earth.”
Nero explained to Pike that, from his time (the future), the Federation sat back and watched Romulus be destroyed. Pike argued that Romulus was fine, but Nero disagreed, saying that he saw the planet as it was destroyed. He said that he’d been planning his revenge for 25 years, which was to destroy the Federation so Romulus would be safe.
Nero told Pike that he would give him the codes, and he picked up a centaurian slug (which was juuuust like the Ceti eel from Wrath of Khan). Instead of the ear canal, these slugs went into Pike’s mouth.
On the Enterprise, Spock, Kirk, and the rest of the bridge crew tried to figure out Nero’s next move. Spock said that because of their ability to create a black hole, they might have the ability to make a tunnel in space-time. McCoy yelled at Spock, suggesting that the acting captain was implying that these Romulans were from the future.
Spock said: “If you eliminate the impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” This was nice because, in TOS lore, Spock (on his human side) was supposed to be distantly related to Earth’s most famous detective — Sherlock Holmes. This relationship was referenced in The Undiscovered Country.
Kirk suggested that they disable the Narada and rescue Pike. Spock said that was not illogical, due to the advanced tech possessed by the Romulans. Each idea Kirk threw out, Spock shot down. He eventually told Kirk that the ship must rendezvous with the rest of the fleet instead. Kirk argued that the logical thing was to do things that cannot be predicted and that Nero would not foresee.
Spock countered and laid out the argument for the Kelvin timeline at the same time.
“You’re assuming that Nero knows how things are predicted to unfold,” Spock said.
“The contrary. Nero’s very presence has altered the flow of history, beginning with the attack on the U.S.S. Kelvin, culminating with the events of today. Therefore creating a new chain of incidents which cannot be anticipated by either party.”
“An alternate reality?” asked Uhura.
“Precisely,” answered Spock.
Kirk began to argue against rejoining the fleet. He started yelling at Spock, who sat in the captain’s chair. Spock called for security to escort him out. Kirk wrestled his way away from the guards, and Spock used a neck pinch to subdue him.
“Get him off this ship,” Spock ordered. The Enterprise ejected an escape pod into the icy world of Delta Vega. Kirk found himself on a glacier, with a small duffle bag of gear.
Kirk soon was in the sights of a furry snow creature, which was at full gallop. Just before the beast caught the human, a red scorpion-like monster jumped in and attacked the furry one.
Even when I saw this film in the theater, I thought the red monster looked out of place. He had no fur or blubber to keep him warm, and the red was entirely unlike his surroundings. That creature did not fit the scene and would have been more at home in a Star Wars prequel.
Kirk scurried away into a tunnel, where the creature caught him. But just before Kirk was eaten, a humanoid walked up with a torch and waved the monster away. It turns out this person was old man Spock, from the future of a now different timeline. Leonard Nimoy coming back to play Spock, was a cool shocker that made the film work and tie the TOS and TOS films to the Kelvin reboot series.
“James T. Kirk,” said Spock. “How did you find me?”
Kirk was confused.
“I have been, and always shall be your friend,” he said. “I am Spock.”
“Bullshit,” said Kirk.
Around a fire in the frozen cave, Kirk explained that present-day Spock hated him, and that was Spock who deserted him on the planet. Rather than beating around the bush, Spock mind-melded with Kirk.
“129 years from now, a star will explode, and threaten to destroy the galaxy,” said Spock. “That was where I’m from, Jim. The future. A star went to supernova. I promised the Romulans that I would save their planet.
“We outfitted our fastest ship. Using red matter, I would create a black hole, which would absorb the exploding star. I was en route when the unthinkable happened. The supernova destroyed Romulus.
“I had little time. I had to extract the red matter and shoot it into the supernova. As I began my return trip, I was intercepted. He called himself ‘Nero.’ In my attempt to escape, both of us were pulled into the black hole. Nero went through first. He was the first to arrive.”
The audience saw the Narada emerge from the black hole and attack and destroy the U.S.S. Kelvin.
“Nero and his crew spent the next 25 years awaiting my arrival,” remembered Spock. “But what was years for Nero, was only seconds for me. I went through the black hole … Nero was waiting for me. He held me responsible for the loss of his world.
“He captured my vessel and spared my life for one reason. So that I would know his pain, he beamed me here so that I could observe his vengeance. As he was helpless to save his planet, I would be helpless to save mine.
“Billions of lives lost because of me, Jim. Because I failed.”
After the mind-meld ended, Kirk was out of breath and almost in tears. Spock apologized, saying that emotions to transfer during the process. Kirk asked if Spock did “feel.” Spock said he did. Kirk noted that Spock arriving at this time changed everything.
Spock said that they would journey to a Starfleet outpost not far from where they were. Kirk asked, in Spock’s time, if he knew his father. Spock said that he did, and he lived to see Kirk become captain of the Enterprise.
“A ship we must return you to as soon as possible,” said Spock.
On the Enterprise, as the ship entered the Laurentian system, Spock took McCoy aside to thank him for siding with the acting captain. McCoy spoke freely and asked Spock if he was “out of his Vulcan mind” by sending Kirk away.
McCoy said that Kirk was like a prized stallion left at the stable. Spock said that was “curious” as a stallion must first be broken before it can reach its potential.
Spock and Kirk arrived at the outpost and met Keenser, a small alien member of Starfleet, who said little. Keenser led them to Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, in this timeline, played by Simon Pegg.
Mr. Spock was amazed to see Scotty. He immediately asked Scotty if he was the one who created the theory of “trans-warp beaming.” Scotty said that he was and that he got in trouble for testing the hypothesis on Admiral Archer’s prized beagle (a ST:E reference).
Kirk asked where the dog was. Scotty said he didn’t know, but he did feel guilty for losing it.
Spock told Scotty that the theory did work. Scotty said that if it did work, then he would know about it. Spock noted that Scott didn’t know about it because he hadn’t discovered it yet — which is almost exactly what Scotty said about the guy who he gave the formula to for Transparent Aluminum in ST:IV – The Voyage Home.
Scotty asked if Spock was from the future and if they still had sandwiches there.
They boarded an old shuttlecraft, where Spock got to work on the formulation for “trans-warp beaming.” Scotty said that he wasn’t sure if he believed their story, and even if he did, trans-warp beaming was like:
“Trying to hit a bullet, with a smaller bullet, wilts wearing a blindfold riding a horse.” Once Spock was done, Scotty looked at the formula and was amazed.
Spock told Kirk that he would not be coming with him. Kirk said that the other Spock would not believe this story. Spock said that “under no circumstances” could Kelvin Spock know about “Prime Spock.” He made Kirk promise not to tell.
He told Kirk that in order to defeat Nero, Kirk must take control of the Enterprise. Kirk asked how. Spock recommended Starfleet Regulation 619, which states that any command officer who is emotionally compromised must resign his command.
“I just lost my planet,” said Spock. “I am emotionally compromised. What you must do is get me to show it.”
Before Kirk and Scotty beamed away, Spock told them to “live long and prosper.”
Kirk appeared in the engineering area, while Scotty materialized in a series of water-filled tubes. After some wacky chases around the ship’s filtration system, Kirk was able to free Mr. Scott.
On the bridge, Spock saw that Kirk and Scotty were running loose on the ship. He sent security to bring them back up to the bridge. Spock ordered Kirk to tell him how he was able to beam onto the ship at warp speed. Kirk refused to say.
Spock then turned to Scotty and ordered him to tell how they got onto the ship at warp. Kirk told him not to. Scotty said that he did not want to take sides.
Kirk stepped into Spock’s face and started challenging Spock’s emotional soundness after all that had happened. With each question, Spock grew angrier and angrier. He eventually attacked Kirk and began to strangle him on one of the control panels. Sarek had to tell Spock to back down.
Spock resigned his command.
As everyone stood around silent while Spock and Sarek left the bridge, Scotty shouted: “I like this ship! It’s exciting!”
McCoy grumbled that they had no captain and no first officer. But as Kirk sat down in the big chair, Sulu said that Pike mad Kirk the first officer. Uhura said that she hoped Kirk knew what he was doing.
Kirk made a ship-wide announcement updating them on what just happened with Spock, and the new plan to pursue the Romulans.
On the transporter pad, Sarek told Spock to speak openly. Spock said that he was conflicted like when he was a child. Sarek said Spock would always be a child of two worlds. Sarek said he was grateful for that, “and for you.” Spock said that he felt an anger that he could not control against the one who took his mother’s life.
Sarek told him that his mother would say not to try to control that anger. Sarek also told Spock the answer to a question about his mother asked long ago: “I married her because I loved her.”
On the bridge, Chekov figured out that Nero would pass Saturn. He proposed dropping out of warp behind one of Saturn’s moons, like Titan, the ship would be relatively invisible. Before Nero started to use the drill, they could beam aboard the Narada to free Pike and disable the ship.
Spock appeared on the again and said that the plan would work. Spock said that he wanted to beam over and steal the black hold device and free Pike. Kirk said he would go along as well. Spock said that he would cite regulation against this sort of thing, but he knew that Kirk would ignore it.
Meanwhile, the Narada put into orbit above Earth, and Nero deployed the drill over the San Francisco Harbor.
Near Saturn, Sulu and Chekov maneuvered the Enterprise successful from out of warp to behind Titan. This may have been the most significant visual scene for any Enterprise or Enterprise-A for any movie or television entry.
Before Kirk and Spock beamed over, Kirk ordered Sulu to attack at any moment if he though the Enterprise had the tactical advantage. Kirk returned to the transporter pad to see Spock and Uhura kanoodling. Scotty beamed them over to what he thought was the cargo bay.
Scotty was wrong. Instead, they beamed over onto what looked like the command bridge. And they were surrounded by Romulans. While this was an eventful and action-packed scene, the sound of the disruptors and phaser blasts was distracting. They sounded like BBs hitting off a thin piece of aluminum. The phasers also switched from red to blue, which we’re left to assume was ‘kill’ and ‘stun’ settings.
Spock melded with a Romulan who was knocked out and learned the location of both the black hole device and Captain Pike.
Nero activated the drill and cut Kirk and Spock off from the outside, but the boys manage to fight through and find Ambassador Spock’s ship. As young Spock entered, the ship’s computer recognized him as the elder Spock, and its systems activated. As the computer welcomed Ambassador Spock, Kirk moved on and muttered, “Wow… that’s weird.”
In the background, an ethereal version of a theme composed for Wrath of Khan played. Yes, it was the perfect time for another callback, even an audio version.
Spock figured out that this ship was from the future, and confronted Kirk, asking if he had been keeping information from him. Kirk asked if he could fly the vessel; Spock said that he thought that he already had. Spock then called Kirk “Jim,” as he rattled off the statistical likelihood of the mission’s failure. Spock asked Kirk to tell Uhura … something, which he was unable to finish, as Kirk interrupted to tell him that the plan would work.
As Spock piloted the ship away, the scene changed to show Kirk lurking around the catwalks of the Narada. Kirk rose and aimed his phaser at Nero and ordered him to disable the drill. Just as he did, a Romulan put the butt of a rifle into the side of his head. Kirk tumbled off the ledge and onto a catwalk below.
You know… who designed the Narada? What kind of engineer would make a dangerous mining ship full of catwalks and ledges and all of that stuff? I realize that this was for dramatic effect, but was there any function behind the madness? The Narada was a massive contrast to the designs we saw in Star Trek: Nemesis. I don’t think that’s a bad thing either.
Nero told Kirk that he knew Kirk’s face from Earth’s history (sweet). Then he started beating the tar out of Kirk.
Meanwhile, Spock piloted his ship outside of the Narada and went after the drill.
Nero started to strangle Kirk and tell him that Kirk would not go on to live the great life that he had lived in the other reality. Kirk gets choked a lot in this movie, doesn’t he?
Spock destroyed the links, which connected the drill to the Narada. Thanks to that, the Romulans announced what Spock did over their ships’ internal speakers, and Nero stopped trying to strangle Kirk. He leaped from one catwalk to another and contacted Spock directly.
As Nero said that he should have killed Spock, the Vulcan told Nero that he was confiscating the ship (called the Jellyfish, by the way). Spock ordered Nero to surrender. In his rage, Nero ordered torpedoes on Spock, even though his guys were trying to remind him about that Red Matter.
Spock warped away, and the Narada followed.
Inside, Kirk jumped away Nero’s henchman, who later caught him. This Romulan held Kirk up and CHOKED HIM. He also told Kirk that his species was “weaker than” he expected. While he was reveling in humanity’s weakness, Kirk grabbed his disruptor and killed him.
When Spock dropped out of warp, the Narada followed suit. Spock turned and headed straight toward the Narada, which was great because Nero shot a whole mess of torpedoes at him.
Just before Spock was hit, the Enterprise jumped into action. Using all of those itty-bitty phaser turrets, the Enterprise destroyed the torpedoes so that Spock could continue with his collision course.
Back inside the Narada, Kirk found Pike and released him. At the same moment, when the Jellyfish smashed into the Narada, the Enterprise beamed Kirk, Pike, and Spock to safety.
After the impact with the Narada, the millions of globs Red Matter, finally able to do as it wants, congeal into one form and implode into a black hole. Kirk hailed the Narada from the Enterprise bridge, and for the first time, called himself “Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise.”
Kirk offered to help rescue their crew. Spock balked, but Kirk told him it was logical to assist, as it may curry favor with the Romulans. Nero said that he’d rather “suffer the end of Romulus a thousand times… I would rather die in agony than accept assistance from you!”
“You got it,” snapped Kirk.
He ordered phasers and to fire “everything we’ve got.” Sulu was happy to comply. They fired on the Narada and watched it crumble under the weight of the singularity.
This was the part I thought strayed the furthest from Gene Roddenberry’s vision. If an enemy refused help, that was one thing, but to shoot them while they were being flushed down a cosmic toilet… that does not seem to gentlemanly.
Anyhow, after the Narada imploded, the black hole started to pull the Enterprise into the void. This situation, solves the oft wondered by sci fans who hate math — can a ship, with the ability to exceed the speed of light escape from a black hole? The black hole is so powerful that not even light can escape from its clutches. But the Enterprise can go faster than the speed of light as it warps time and space.
It can be dizzying.
Scotty told Kirk that he was “givin’ her all she’s got, captain,” but it wasn’t enough. The ship was caught in a gravity well, but Scotty thought that if they ejected the warp core(s) and detonated it (them), the explosion might push the ship free.
They did it, and it worked. A lot of relieved glances were exchanged on the bridge after that. Whew!
Back on Earth, Spock wandered around a hangar bay, when he saw a relative. “Father,” he called out. But the old Vulcan turned around and said:
“I am not our father.”
Prime Spock explained to Kelvin Spock that they could not ignore each other. He also told the young Spock that much would be accomplished in a friendship with Kirk.
Young Spock said that he would resign from Starfleet and help rebuild the Vulcan race. Old Spock said that ‘Spock’ could be in two places at once. Prime Spock noted that he’d found a planet to plant a Vulcan colony and begin anew. He told his younger self to set logic aside and do what feels right.
Back at the Academy, Admiral Barnett commended Kirk and gave him a medal. He was ordered by Barnett to relieve Pike on the Enterprise. They rolled out Pike (on a wheelchair — yes!), who accepted Kirk as the new commander of the ship. Pike said that Kirk’s father would be proud.
The story ended with Kirk walking onto the bridge of his new ship. He was in command yellow at last. All was well. Scotty reported that the dilithium chambers were charged, and then he yelled at Keenser. Spock arrived on time and offered himself as the first officer. Kirk accepted.
As the Enterprise warped off into the depths of the galaxy, it was Leonard Nimoy’s voice who recited the familiar words … “to boldly go where no one has gone before.”
TREK REPORT SUPPLEMENTAL:
I enjoyed this movie. It was fun. It injected life into the franchise after a low point (Nemesis). It may have bent the rules in which Trek would be interpreted, but I was okay with it. In the end, with Kirk in his command uniform, and Spock at the science station — I wanted more!
I loved all the references and call-backs to the previous shows and movies. I enjoyed how they created an alternate timeline so they could do what they wanted with characters and stories. They got to have their cake and eat it too.
And I didn’t mind the lens flares.
RATING: 4 out of 5
 — The start of the Kelvin Trilogy features a new, young cast portraying the characters that starred in the franchise back in the 1960s.){kind=link}