a whole lot of fun

Rating: 7/10 (18 January 2010)

The 2009 version of "Star Trek" is a "re-imagined" prequel to the famed Gene Roddenberry TV series from the 1960s. In this outing, James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is a hell-raising 23rd Century Iowa farm boy who's tired of living in the shadow of his father, a Starfleet captain who died a hero's death, sacrificing himself to save the lives of his crew (the infant James and his mother included). Yet, after just a single pep talk from one Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood), the hotshot Kirk figures it's time to hang up his motorcycle - or the futuristic equivalent thereof - and follow in his hallowed father's footsteps by becoming a member of Starfleet himself.
Meanwhile, on the planet Vulcan, a young Spock suffers persecution for being half-human on his mother's side and, thus, opts to sign on to become a commander with the Earth-based Federation rather than serve in the Vulcan Science Academy, as any decent, civic-minded Vulcan with his kind of aptitude is expected to do.
Soon, Kirk and the famously emotionless Spock (Zachary Quinto) are serving together on the maiden voyage of the spanking new Starship Enterprise, along with such familiar faces as Bones (Karl Urban), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Sulu (John Cho) and Chekov (Anton Yelchin) in their younger years, with Scotty (Simon Pegg) getting a chance to hop aboard later on. Before they know it, the Enterprise is locked in battle with the Romulans, led by a villain named Nero (Eric Bana), who are trying to make a black hole out of Vulcan, with Earth as their next target.
If none of this sounds particularly familiar even to die-hard Trek fans, it's probably because scenarists Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have concocted a time-shifting/alternate-reality version of events that goes against much of what we've previously been told regarding the back story of these characters. One of the benefits of this approach is that it allows Leonard Nimoy to join in on the proceedings, playing Spock as an older incarnation of himself.
The script has some fun parodying Kirk's reputation for one-upmanship and serial womanizing, but a little of that does go a long way. Still, the tension that develops between the cocksure Kirk and the similarly adamant Spock (both well played by Pine and Quinto) is nicely balanced against the camaraderie of two equally skilled professionals working at the peak of their abilities in a common cause.
Special kudos go to director J.J. Abrams for the tremendously exciting action sequences he has created for this film, including one amazing scene atop a giant drill platform located miles above the planet's surface. No surprise, the art direction, production design and special effects are all first-class, and editors Mary Jo Markey and Maryann Brandon have assembled all the pieces together for maximum impact.
This latest incarnation is good fun for Trekkers and non-Trekkers alike.