Movie meets needs of many, few

Rating: 8/10 (10 May 2009)

In this captivating origins story about James Kirk and the Enterprise crew, J.J. Abrams expertly dodges the issue of overfamiliarity and delivers a tight, action-packed, eminently thrilling tale.
I expected a lot out of this movie, and to tell the truth I found the trailers and previews pretty mediocre. Nothing about them made me really want to see the film; it was as if the trailers were trying to manage the expectations of the intended audience. But here's the rub: Chris Pine, who plays Kirk, is a lot better than I thought he'd be - not a caricature of William Shatner, just a precursor to him, much like Ewan McGregor in Star Wars Episode 1, but with more subtlety.
Kirk is introduced to us at his actual birth, moments after his father - very temporarily a Starfleet captain - sacrifices himself so that his entire crew, including his wife and newborn, may survive. Later events in the whiz kid's life inform his later character, the charm, intelligence, and dare taking that we all expect from James Tiberius Kirk.
Kirk meets Spock, played by Zachary Quinto, at the Academy, where the latter designs the simulation that all prospective cadets must engage. The two lock horns when Kirk manages to defeat the simulation by rather unorthodox means, and that would typically be it for our young hero, but a sudden threat has been detected at the planet Vulcan, and all of the cadets, even Kirk, are quickly dispatched.
Throughout the movie, the two main characters - we're talking Spock and Kirk here - must somehow evolve as, well, people, much as they did throughout the original series' run. Kirk, at the outset, is very emotional, despite supreme intelligence. Spock shows no emotional at all, suppressing his Earth half almost completely. Each, however, is completely certain that his own method is the only way to go, and their eventual compromise, brought upon by tragic circumstances, allows the Enterprise story as we know it to fully coalesce.
Ah, you ask, if this is a reboot - hence the lack of numerals after the title - does that mean that the TV series and the movies should all be forgotten? Not so fast, my friend, not so fast! A useful little sci-fi writers' crutch known as time travel will solve everything. I'm being a little facetious, of course; this marks the third time in the eleven Star Trek films that time travel has been used, but it's not overused yet, and here it not only is a fun writers' tool but a genuinely creative way to show the past (the old films) while allowing future films to coexist.
To sum up: In the future, old Spock tries to prevent a supernova from destroying Romulus, but he fails; a renegade Romulan general (played here by Eric Bana) blames Spock, and both he and Spock wind up going through a black hole that takes them a century into the past. Now the Romulan is trying to destroy young Spock before he can get old and not save Romulus.
Abrahms' pacing is stellar, pardon the pun. There's hardly any letup with the action, and when it does we get poignant, well-acted scenes of reserved anger (Spock) or pensive musings (Kirk). There's only one love scene, and it's a quickie (again pardon the pun - not intended).
The supporting cast was well picked, too. John Cho (Sulu), Anton Yelchin (Chekov), Karl Urban (Bones), Eric Bana (the Romulan, Nero), Ben Cross (Spock's dad), and even Winona Ryder as Spock's mother are perfect fits, eschewing scenery chewing for thoughtful, imaginative performances.
A couple of other actors deserve special mention. Zoe Saldana plays Uhura, the beautiful communications officer on the Enterprise. Uhura has wildly different relationships with Spock and Kirk, and Saldana is well up to the task: a strong, intelligent, and relentlessly caring young woman (although, interestingly enough, not the only woman on the Enterprise's bridge). Then there's the cherubic Simon Pegg as Engineer Scotty; Scotty, unlike most of the other main characters, finds himself on the ship almost by accident, but his beaming ability saves the crew's bacon. Pegg's upbeat exuberance is catchy.
This isn't just another pretty-people-in-space action movie. For once, although everyone is quite young (too young?) and attractive, there's quite a bit of substance behind each character. And remember, the movie could have the scourge of familiarity working against it as well; there's always the risk that it won't meet our high expectations of how the characters should behave. Not the case here. Star Trek is gleeful fun, managing to embrace the old while opening the door to adventures anew.