Bold Journey

Trekkies … you can exhale now.

Director J.J. Abrams has pulled off a modern movie miracle with his
reboot of the Star Trek franchise. He manages to retain the vibe of the
beloved TV and film series while creating something altogether
different, fresh and irresistibly entertaining. This is the best Star
Trek film I’ve seen, and that includes Wrath of Khan and the
humpback-whale movie. It’s that good.

Star Trek begins with an intense battle sequence that
includes the birth of a baby James T. Kirk, and only gets better from
there. This movie has no lags, no dry spells, no real flaws. It might
be part of a well-known franchise, but it’s also an extremely competent
stand-alone science-fiction epic.

At some time in the future Trek universe, a well-meaning Romulan
named Nero (Eric Bana) is given a major reason to become unfathomably
angry. It’s no secret that Leonard Nimoy has returned as Spock for this
installment, so it’s safe to tell you that an older Spock is part of
the reason that Nero has become a vengeful monster. Through some nifty
time-traveling tricks, Nero will wind up facing off against a younger
incarnation of Spock (Zachary Quinto) and his new cadet friend, Kirk
(Chris Pine).

Somewhere in time before Nero’s temper-tantrum, young Kirk is
rabblerousing in Iowa bars and not so sure what to do with his life. He
happens upon Capt. Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood), who knew his
heroic dad and advises the young Kirk to enlist in Starfleet.

Kirk, with nothing else better to do, obliges and meets up with his
now-iconic friends soon thereafter. It should be said that the
performances by every actor in these familiar roles are all first-rate.
Karl Urban goes full-on DeForest Kelley in his portrayal of Dr. Leonard
“Bones” McCoy, and every time he says, “Dammit, Jim!” it is a blessed
gift to Trek fans. John Cho creates a different kind of Sulu, making
the character his own within this film’s universe without disgracing
George Takei.

Anton Yelchin has fun murdering the English language with that
patented Chekov accent, and gets some good laughs out of an old joke.
Simon Pegg proves to be the perfect choice to replace James Doohan as
Scotty the engineer. Pegg’s role here is relatively small (he shows up
late in film), but he makes the most of his scenes. Thankfully, he does
get to scream Scotty’s most famous line of dialogue during a space
battle.

The movie would be nothing if it messed up the casting of Kirk and
the younger Spock, but never fear; Pine and Quinto jump into the roles
with remarkable authority. They make a few nods to their predecessors
(Quinto actually shares a mind-bending scene with Nimoy), but these are
not copycat performances. Pine makes one obvious nod to William Shatner
near the film’s end that provides the movie’s best laugh.

Nimoy looks like he’s truly enjoying the role of Spock for the first
time since Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. One gets the sense
that he knows he’s part of something special. While Shatner didn’t get
a chance to attend the party, Abrams and crew could have the Shat back
in his infamous seat in a future installment. As for Bana, he rocks his
role to the core and is easily the best Trek villain since Ricardo
Montalban’s Khan.

Abrams has messed with the Trek universe a bit, and the way he does
it is nothing short of brilliant. For those of you who have always
loved all things Trek, this movie should make you more than happy. For
those of you who think Spock is lame, give this series another chance.
There might be movies that make more money this summer, but they will
be hard-pressed to be as entertaining as Star Trek.

This article appears in May 7-13, 2009.