3.5/4 Starring Leonard Nemoy, Chris Pine ‘amp; Zoe Saldana Directed by J.J. Abrams Rated R
J.J. Abrams has come a long way from the dreadful finale of ‘Alias.’ (Nevermind that the show was well received among both closeted and not-so-closeted sci-fi fanatics.) Since landing the limelight with ‘Lost,’ Abrams ‘mdash; today’s George Lucas’ ‘mdash; revives an artifact worthy of an Indiana Jones crusade. That’s right ‘mdash; ‘Star Trek’ delivers.
Fans of the original series were apprehensive, to say the least; so many critics were touting the failures of odd-numbered ‘Trek’ films that the latest remake seemed cursed from the beginning.
Surprisingly, though, one of the film’s only pitfalls is its pandering to tradition. Name-dropping feels forced, catchphrases like ‘Damn it Spock, I’m a doctor, not a physicist!’ were thrown in like obligatory afterthoughts and the token random red-shirt guy was doomed to die the moment he left the ship.
But, with a time-travel-induced alternate universe caused by space villain Nero ‘mdash; played by Eric Bana, with the same subtlety he brought to the Australian hit ‘Chopper’ ‘mdash; Abrams takes his ‘Trek’ where no ‘Trek’ has gone before. A hefty feat, considering the countless television spinoffs and 10 filmic remakes.
Center stage in the prequel are the young James T. Kirk (Chris Pine, as convincing as in his neo-Nazi assassin role in ‘Smoking Aces’) and Spock (Zachary Quinto, with all the passion that keeps ‘Heroes’ heart-throttling).
But unlike in ‘Wolverine,’ the other early summer blockbuster, the supporting crew of’ characters ‘mdash; Dr. McCoy, Uhura and even helmsman Chekov ‘mdash; are quite well developed. The film also doesn’t get soaked in the lousy love-story drama of ‘Trek’ head writer Roberto Orci, who brought us both the stale ‘Mission: Impossible III’ and sloppy ‘Transformers.’ Don’t get too excited, though ‘mdash; Orci’s romantic ineptitude creeps into the periphery.
The charm of this ‘Trek’ prequel can be its breaks from the original (please forgive me, devout Trekkies), which kick-start an aged genre. It might not be a tried-and-true remake of a classic, but it’s damn good summer fare.