Star Trek - May 17, 2009

Star Trek

Director: J.J. Abrams

Let me begin the proceedings by saying that I am not a Trekkie. I enjoyed a (very) brief period of interest around the time of First Contact, but it didn't last long. Star Trek always seemed to me to be the less cool sibling of Star Wars, albeit older. However, the reboot caught me attention based on the involvement of TV Wunderkid JJ Abrams, who only previously directed an entry in the Mission: Impossible cannon (3, far better than 2, not as interesting as 1).

Abrams involvement guarantees a few changes in the Star Trek universe. For one thing, the cool factor would be turned up, and two, the philosophical underpinnings, always a (great) feature of the Star Trek universe, would be replaced with white knuckle action.

I'm mostly happy to report these changes have been implemented. Star Trek is one of the best main stream action/sci-fi films in a long time, and a huge step up from George Lucas' tepid Star Wars prequels.

The story is simple enough, and mostly unimportant: a time warp has allowed angry Romulan Nero (Eric Bana, mostly forgettable) to travel back in time to get revenge on Spock (played here by both Leonard Nimoy, who brings gravitas, and Heroes star Zachary Quinto), both past and present. He manages to arrive just in time to destroy the USS Kelvin, captained by none other than George Kirk, who sacrifices himself to save his crew, wife, and unborn son James (named in the film's most ridiculously melodramatic sequence). Thereafter, we watch Kirk's (Chris Pine) rebellious upbringing, and, simultaneously, the difficult upbringing of half-Vulcan/half Human Spock. It's all very vague and empy, but kudos to Quinto for bring pathos to the melodrama.

The film picks up once Kirk, Spock, Bones (Karl Urban, who seems to be having fun) head to Star fleet and hastily end up aboard the Enterprise to save a distressed ship. Kirk and Spock, whose tenuous relationship is based on some hooey with a space simulator (for all their fame, Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman are two very lazy screenwriters), have to come to terms with one another in order to lead the Enterprise to victory.

From there on, we're introduced to the series mainstays, and the movie really starts to fly. The cinematography and sound design, so haphazard in the film's opening sequence (I found myself utterly confused by Abrams intensely tight cinematography, and a lack of cohesion in editing), come together magnificently for the second and third acts, and the actors aren't slouches either. Sulu (John Cho), Chekov(Anton Yelchin), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), and Scotty (Simon Pegg) all are highly energetic and engaging, and help dust off the mothballs from the series. Of all of these young actors, Quinto earn high marks for finding the rage, love, and humor behind a very withdrawn exterior. His performance, along with the action, is the reason to see this film. Pine acquits himself well, though there's not much there, to the character nor the performance. Bana is wasted in a terrible role.

However, credit must be given to Abrams and his team for creating a highly energetic film. In this age of reboots either unnecessary or overly dark, this film succeeds by being funny, highly engaging, and 2 hours of mindless summer fun. Is this what we should expect from Star Trek? Maybe not, but it's not going to get much better than this.

3/5