Back At Full (Warp) Speed...

Rating: 9/10 (9 May 2009)

When it was first announced that J.J. Abrams (LOST, FRINGE) was being handed the keys to the Roddenberry kingdom, I couldn't have felt more trepidation. LOST had me in its grip until about the end of the second season, when things started to get way too "TWIN PEAKS-ish" for me and I bailed out. Ditto with FRINGE, which just managed to escape the pitfalls of becoming "X-FILES ULTRA PLUS."
But damned if they didn't manage it. Abrams, writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and producer Damon Lindelof have turned out to be the "vitamin B-12 complex" shot that this ailing series needed in its behind parts, and they have done it while still remaining mostly true to the characters and ideals held dear by devoted fans everywhere. Best of all, because of the way it has been cleverly written and directed, you need not have seen a single frame of any of the many entries in the franchise to appreciate what Team Abrams hath wrought.
The casting is dead solid perfect. Chris Pine is the exact combination of bravado, recklessness fueled by a testosterone overload and the unflappable courage of feckless youth we knew that James Tiberius Kirk was in his younger days. Not one time does he hit a false note, and the "Shatnerisms" are completely avoided (until a certain point...you'll know when that is, but by then, you won't even mind.)
HEROES' Zachary Quinto and THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK'S Karl Urban are nothing less than astonishing as the younger Spock and Dr. Leonard McCoy, respectively. Both actors avoid imitating their predecessors as well, and both deliver skillful performances without turning into the SNL caricatures we were afraid they would be. Urban is especially unexpected, capturing the physicality, the vocal inflections and the mindset of the great DeForest Kelly's performance in what can only be described as a loving tribute to the character. And Quinto should be ready to kiss his TV career as the chimerical Gabriel Sylar goodbye. The impression he leaves here as Spock will find him facing all the good and bad aspects of being associated with such an icon of the series.
One would hope he already discussed this with the original Spock, Leonard Nimoy, who well into his twilight years, can still hold our rapt attention on-screen, and plays a pivotal part in the storyline of this new alternate version. The moments he shares with the key members of the youthful cast are both energizing and poignant with their symbolic importance. You can almost see the torch being passed again, into very capable hands.
As the beautiful and brainy Uhura, Zoe Saldana does Nichelle Nichols proud as her new incarnation, and I hope the revered singer/actress is flattered, because Saldana really brings it, completely unfettered by the chauvinism that hog-tied so many of the strong and capable females featured in the canon back during its inception.
John Cho (HAROLD AND KUMAR), Simon Pegg (SHAUN OF THE DEAD) and Anton Yelchin round out the principal cast as Sulu, Scotty and Chekhov respectively. Though they are given woefully little to do compared to the leads, (and this really is more about Kirk and Spock than anyone else), each makes the most of the moment they were given to shine. I kind of had my doubts about Yelchin as Chekhov first because of the accent that veers dangerously into stand-up comedian territory, but if one thinks back to Walter Koenig creating the role, you realize that the accent didn't sound all that convincing at first then, either.
Plus, for lovers of the vital secondary characters important in the lives of the core characters, as well as serial movie buffs who love to play "name that actor", there are plenty of juicy surprises that I will not reveal here. I do need to mention the outstanding performance of Eric Bana as the villain of this particular piece, the deranged and inconsolable Romulan captain Nero. A little more time should have been given to this character to give us deeper insight into his motivation, so that his evil deeds are given even more chilling and despicable power, thereby making our heroes' actions that much more noble.
There are plenty of nods to TREK folklore and insular references that die-hard fans will lap up like Ben and Jerry's, and the tag lines that certain characters are known for that will elicit applause and delighted laughter as they should.
I have not been this excited about the success of a TREK-themed film since the very first time I saw WRATH OF KHAN, and this is definitely on par with that installment, considered by many to be the best TREK sequel ever made. Which brings to mind the one key thing to remember here - this is not a sequel, or a "reimagining" or even a prequel. Much in the spirit of what Chris Nolan did with BATMAN and Richard Donner achieved with SUPERMAN, this is a new lease on life for an old friend.
I have heard the tag-line "This is not your father's STAR TREK," used to the point where it should drive me to complete distraction bordering on insanity. But I can't think of a more apt way to describe it.
There was only two ways this project could go, warts and all - it could become a complete and utter failure, very close to the ill-advised ENTERPRISE series, or it could be that once- in-a-great while success that blows the doors off everyone's expectations.
So which is it? To use a horse-racing reference, Team Abrams' new entry is the "Mine That Bird" of the franchise.
It's official, folks. STAR TREK is back - full ahead, maximum warp speed!