Here's to the new generation!

Rating: 9/10 (10 May 2009)

As far as reboots go, the new Star Trek picture was always going to be a tough one to pull off, and not just because of the famous "odd-numbered curse" (this being, technically speaking, the eleventh Trek movie): unlike other recently regenerated franchises like Batman or James Bond, Gene Roddenberry's creation is burdened with a somewhat cheesy reputation, mostly due to William Shatner's iconic line delivery (very... long... dramatic pauses) and fans (or Trekkers, as they call themselves) who have a habit of trying to learn the Klingon language. It is therefore understandable that Paramount handed the damaged franchise (the previous film, Star Trek: Nemesis, while not being the worst of the lot, was the least successful commercially) to a non-fan: J.J. Abrams, whose untarnished TV record (Alias and Lost) and previous successful "redemption operation" (Mission: Impossible III) make him an ideal candidate for bringing Star Trek to a new, disillusioned generation of viewers. And boy, does he deliver...
Kicking off with a huge space battle, Abrams' prequel/reboot then proceeds to show us the difficult upbringing of the original show's leading duo: James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), a hot-headed, womanizing rebel whose father was killed in the aforementioned battle, and Spock (Zachary Quinto), the Vulcan scientist who has to deal with the "shame" of having a human mother (Winona Ryder). The two meet (and clash) at Starfleet Academy, and later find themselves on the U.S.S. Enterprise alongside "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban), Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Hikaru Sulu (John Cho) and Pavel Chekov (Anton Yelchin). Their mission: to prevent the vengeful Nero (Eric Bana), a Romulan who has come from the future, to carry out his evil plan.
A simple story on paper, but with a few surprises along the way: that's what Abrams and his screenwriters, self-confessed Trek aficionados Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, offer the audience over the course of 126 minutes. There's humor, action, suspense, romance (though not the one suggested in pre-release rumors), some technobabble (this is Star Trek, after all): in short, a fun, exciting ride that will please old and new fans alike. For the latter category, there's the classic good story well told, decorated with some nice explosions, space travel at incredible speed (one really gets the feeling of traveling faster than light) and a few bona fide fights (not to mention a tormented protagonist who's more Luke Skywalker than William Shatner); for the die-hard Trekkers, there are the characters who retain their original characteristics while inheriting some new traits from the actors playing them (best of the lot are Quinto's Spock, Urban's McCoy and Simon Pegg's Scotty), a villain worth comparing to Khan and knowing references to the original series, which range from deliberate tributes (the classic theme music and "final frontier" monologue, the late Majel Barrett - that would be Roddenberry's widow - voicing the Enterprise's computer) to clever, and occasionally ironic, in-jokes (how McCoy got his nickname, the Kobayashi Maru test, Sulu's passion for fencing).
Still, this isn't just a prequel story, it's also a reboot, meaning Abrams must have some trick up his sleeve that will allow him to take the story in a new direction come sequel(s) time. He does, and it's a brilliant idea he and the writers have come up with: through his time-trotting actions, Nero has permanently altered the Trek reality we knew and erased the events of at least ten episodes (including the original rejected pilot The Cage, whose lead character Christopher Pike has an important role in the film), which means encyclopedic knowledge of TOS is no longer a prerequisite for future installments.
But angered Trekkers needn't worry: there's still a vital, unbreakable link with the original show, namely Leonard Nimoy, who takes advantage of the time travel gimmick to play the "real" Spock once again and truly pass the torch to the new cast, acting as a bridge between the two separate continuities and ensuring the old Trek universe will never die, despite what the destruction of a '60s car early into the film might symbolically suggest. Some will probably claim The Wrath of Khan remains the best entry in the franchise, but it is undeniable that thanks to Abrams and his "partners in crime", Roddenberry's creation really gets to go where no Star Trek film has gone before. May the new version live long, and prosper