Re-Engage

Rating: 10/10 (5 October 2009)

We know what to expect from a "Star Trek" movie, thirty plus years after "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". Perhaps this is because the franchise has kept it all in the family up till now. The majority of films have been directed by people involved in the "Star Trek" universe for years. The thought of an outsider venturing into the realm of "Star Trek" and directing the re-launch of their precious franchise is enough to make a Vulcan's ears straighten out. I mean, the last time an interloper put his stamp on a "Trek" adventure, the result was the Stuart Baird-directed "Star Trek: Nemesis", considered a failure on all fronts.
So, it's refreshing to see TV guru J.J. Abrams not just succeed, but overwhelmingly so in delivering a fresh, relevant and exciting take on a new "Trek" tale. Even more impressive is that "Transformers" scribes Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzmann developed an ingenious device to appease long-time Trekkers and newcomers alike. Said device is a black hole that creates an alternate "Trek" universe early in the film. This allows the filmmakers to have fun with shades of the "Trek" characters we know and love, yet gives them a chance to re-make and re-discover them in a new adventure. It's a great story design and that rare occasion where a time travel story has no glaring flaws. "Back to the Future II", a movie that is built on traversing space and time, had a major error in its depiction of time travel* and even another "Star Trek" film, "First Contact", mishandled time travel*. But if you follow the characters of this movie in and out of wormholes, go home and draw out a schematic diagram of exactly what happened, it make sense! The plot details involve Spock traveling back in time on the heels of Romulans, who are convinced Spock caused the destruction of their home planet. The Romulans are bent on revenge and destroying Vulcan with a mysterious substance called Red Matter. At this point in time, youthful Kirk, Spock, Bones and the rest of the crew are getting their feet wet on the bridge of The Enterprise after the original Captain, Christopher Pike, is captured by the Romulans.
The tech aspects of the movie are top-notch, killing the old notions of cheesy FX that have haunted this franchise in the past. Also top notch is the casting, succeeding in many different ways. Chris Pine as Kirk brings the right machismo and sense of humor to rival straight-as-an-arrow, logic-based Zachary Quinto, nailing the role of Spock. The early-relationship standoffs between Kirk and Spock are a lot of fun, almost playing out like the romantic comedy couple who hate each other that you know will be together in the end. There is romance in this film that wakes Trek fans out of the coma they've been put in by Picard's stodgy relationships (he deserved sexier times). There's a romantic liaison between Spock and Uhuru (a concept straight out of "alternate universe") that works as a romance and for comedy fodder as something else to come between Kirk and Spock. Karl Urban has his best role since "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy as "Bones" McCoy. His role isn't as re-imagined as some of the others, instead, he flavors his role with the best parts of DeForest Kelley's original portrayal, to hilarious effect.
Eric Bana does a fine job as the revenge-bent Romulan, reminding audiences that a real THREAT is essential to an adventure movie. Once the threat is real and potent, a movie can have all sorts of fun underneath that umbrella, and "Star Trek" does. Take note, Indiana Jones. In fact, George Lucas, why don't you give J.J. Abrams a call