Star Trek Review
J.J. Abrams' take on Star Trek, starring Chris Pine and Eric Bana
Remarkably, Abrams succeeds across the board. Even the parts that don't work are the same parts that don't work in other Star Trek movies: cornball one-liners, green-skinned aliens, and convoluted time-traveling plots. Still, there are enough nuggets (catch phrases, "red shirts," etc.) to satisfy longtime fans, but not so many as to alienate the uninitiated. It's both a reboot and continuation of the existing Trek franchise, in plot and in spirit.
Trek fans should find little to complain about, despite fears that the fresh-faced actors would turn this origin story into "Star Trek, 90210." Abrams finds the middle ground between homage and reinterpretation, expanding upon what fans already know about the Trek characters and adding new twists and backstories.
Characters and plot
Supporting characters like Sulu (he's trained in fencing) and Scotty (he loves sandwiches) get fleshed out more than ever before, and are even given some good action scenes, while Spock and Kirk get the full origin-story treatment.
Star Trek details the origins of the crew of the USS Enterprise, from Kirk and Spock's childhood to their first meeting, then their first mission: battling planet-destroying Romulan villain Nero (Eric Bana). The crew's major disadvantage: Nero is from 130 years in the future.
Though time-travel is a common crutch for Trek movie plots (this is the fourth movie to involve time-travel), it's a clever way for Abrams and writers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman to find a sure-fire way around fanboy criticism. Whatever happens this film it isn't happening to the characters that fans know and love, it's happening in an alternate universe. In fact, the Trek universe already has an established "mirror universe," so alternate timelines are already firmly entrenched in Trek mythos.
Pine, Quinto, and Urban as Kirk, Spock, and McCoy
As for the cast, Chris Pine has the unenviable task of stepping into William Shatner's role as Captaiin Kirk. To his credit, he conveys Kirk's cocky self-assuredness without trying to mimic Shatner's famously stilted delivery.
Zachary Quinto's Spock, however, is markedly different from Leonard Nimoy Spock (a contrast brought into stark relief when Nimoy himself appears). Still unsure of himself, Quinto's Spock is prone to giving in to violent displays of emotion, and struggles with his half-vulcan/half-human heritage.
Karl Urban does a remarkable job channeling Deforest Kelley's Dr. McCoy, a country doctor who finds himself in outer space. Urban conveys all the exasperation of a man constantly at odds with his surroundings.
From start to finish, this is a slick looking movie. Sure, the Enterprise may look like an Apple store, and Abrams' directing relies way too much on dramatic lens-flaring, but it's hard to imagine a Star Trek film with a broader appeal. While trying to please everyone is usually a sure way to please no one, Abrams' Trek film may just reach that unchartered territory.
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