Entertaining, but silly

Rating: 6/10 (28 May 2009)

The new Star Trek film is entertaining and enjoyable, as long as you don't pay too much attention to the gaping holes in plot logic. For the most part, the early versions of all the familiar characters are well cast, with the notable exception of the ultra-geeky Chekhov, whose fake Russian accent is atrocious.
Chris Pine turns in a solid performance as the young Jim Kirk, perhaps the most demanding role. He's a three-dimensional, believable character, although he's asked to be even more of a superhero than he was in the original series. Let's assume that the older Kirk was tempered by experience and let it go at that.
It took me a while to stop thinking of Zachary Quinto as Sylar; he can't quite keep the creepiness out of his voice. But he looks the part of Spock, who naturally can't be expected to have the warmth that the older character projects.
Nice to Sam Neill as Christopher Pike.
The major weakness of the film is its use of shaky-cam/quick editing. As in the Bourne sequels and the last James Bond films, the action sequences are virtually incomprehensible. You get a general idea of what's happening, but it all flashes at you so fast most of it is a blur.
The plot won't stand up to much scrutiny. A renegade Romulan from the future blames the older Spock for the destruction of his planet, and seeks revenge not only on the planet Vulcan but Earth. It seems odd that, having come back in time, he doesn't try to alter events to save his world, but he's not playing with a full deck. A bigger problem is that he's a bland, uninteresting villain with little screen presence, and as little screen time. His ship is much scarier than he is.
What will likely be most controversial is the retconning --- retroactive continuity. This means changing the backstory from earlier shows and films. And this film takes it all the way: when the story is done, none of the original ST episodes will ever happen. There will be no visit to Talos IV for Captain Pike; no visit to Vulcan for Spock to deal with his "pon farr." (And what are Vulcans supposed to do about that now, anyway?) We're left with a brand new parallel world, presumably so sequels can be made without having to mesh with previous continuity. This is something new; it's a bit like Kirk's solution to the Kobyashi Maru simulation ("it had the virtue of never having been tried".) A fun film, likely to frustrate true believers in its utter disrespect for continuity, but enjoyable enough for those willing to take it at face value.