A Franchise Goes Boldly Backward

A bright, shiny blast from a newly imagined past, “Star Trek,” the latest spinoff from the influential television show, isn’t just a pleasurable rethink of your geek uncle’s favorite science-fiction series. It’s also a testament to television’s power as mythmaker, as a source for some of the fundamental stories we tell about ourselves, who we are and where we came from. The famous captain (William Shatner, bless his loony lights) and creator (Gene Roddenberry, rest in peace) may no longer be on board, but the spirit of adventure and embrace of rationality that define the show are in full swing, as are the chicks in minis and kicky boots.
Initially appearing in 1966, the original “Star Trek” is a utopian fantasy of the first order, a vision of the enlightened future in which whites, blacks, Asians and one poker-faced Vulcan are united by their exploratory mission (“to boldly go”), a prime directive (no intervention) and the occasional dust-up. An origin story directed with a sure touch and perfect tone by J. J. Abrams, the fully loaded film — a showcase for big-studio hardware, software, muscled boys who can act and leggy girls who aren’t required to — turns back the narrative clock to the moment before the main characters first assembled on the deck of the U.S.S. Enterprise, a sleek spacecraft that invariably sails into intergalactic storms. Even utopia needs a little bang.
Apparently so do franchise reboots, which explains why the movie opens with a loud, somewhat chaotic scene filled with fireballs, airborne bodies, heroically clenched male jaws and a squawking pregnant woman about to pop out the future James Tiberius Kirk. Born in space (well, a shuttle craft), Kirk is destined to return to its embracing darkness. (Future “Trek” scholars will be working the Oedipal angle hard.) But this being an origin story, first there’s a peek at a boy (Jimmy Bennett as the young Kirk) tearing down an Iowa highway in a stolen hot rod, a paradigmatic character moment that’s juxtaposed with images of a young brainiac (Jacob Kogan as the wee Spock) problem-solving with intelligence and a few punches.
Kirk and Spock don’t meet in person until they’re adults — now played by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto — at Starfleet Academy, which, in keeping with the show’s liberal leanings, is in San Francisco. At school Kirk flirts with Uhura (Zo? Saldana), a hot number who coolly brushes him off and makes friends with a doctor, Leonard McCoy, a k a Bones (Karl Urban, wild-eyed and funny). Kirk also comes smack up against Spock, an officious instructor. In the tradition of many great romances, the two men take almost an instant dislike to each other, an antagonism that literalizes the Western divide between the mind (Spock) and body (Kirk) that gives the story emotional and dramatic force as well as some generous laughs.
Those laughs never slide into mockery. Mr. Abrams doesn’t treat “Star Trek” as a sacred text, which would be deadly for everyone save the fanatics. But neither does he skewer a pop cultural classic that, more than 40 years after its first run, has been so lampooned (it feels like there are more “South Park” parodies than original episodes) it was difficult to see how he was going to give it new life. By design or accident, he has, simply because in its hopefulness “Star Trek” reminds you that there’s more to science fiction (and Hollywood blockbusters) than nihilism. Mr. Abrams doesn’t venture into politics as boldly as Mr. Roddenberry sometimes did, though it’s worth noting he does equate torture with barbarism.
The barbarians here are the Romulans, who at one point in television time used to look a lot like Spock, but here resemble a Maori motorcycle gang complete with facial tattoos and Goth threads. Led by the glowering psychopath Nero (Eric Bana, an actor who knows how to take villainy seriously), the Romulans are mainly on hand to provoke the Starfleet cadets into space. There Mr. Abrams shows off some expensive-looking special effects, including an enemy warship that, with its enormous, grasping tendrils, by turns resembles a monstrous jellyfish and a malignantly blooming flower. The film comes down on the side of hope, but its apocalyptic interludes, including the image of a planet imploding into gray dust, collapsing like a desiccated piece of fruit, linger.
Despite these visions, the flashing lasers and latex aliens, “Star Trek” is fundamentally about two men engaged in a continuing conversation about civilizations and their discontents. Hot and cold, impulsive and tightly controlled, Kirk and Spock need each other to work, a dynamic Mr. Abrams captures with his two well-balanced leads. Mr. Quinto lets you see and hear the struggle between the human and the Vulcan in Spock through the emotions that ripple across his face and periodically throw off his unmodulated phrasing. Mr. Pine has the harder job — he has to invoke Mr. Shatner’s sui generis performance while transcending its excesses — which makes his nuanced interpretation all the more potent. Steering clear of outright imitation, the two instead distill the characters to capture their essence, their Kirk-ness and Spock-ness.
Written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the story has plenty of chatter, but Mr. Abrams keeps the talk moving, slowing down only intermittently, as when Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) or the wryly smiling Leonard Nimoy (!) unload some paternalistic advice on Kirk. A television veteran (“Lost”), Mr. Abrams handles the action scenes better than he did in his only other big-screen outing (“Mission: Impossible III”), largely by not lavishing too much time on them. By far his finest moments take place on the brightly lighted deck of the Enterprise, where against the backdrop of limitless space, Kirk, Spock and the rest of the young crew fumble with roles that — much like the young actors playing them, including Anton Yelchin as Chekov and John Cho as Sulu — they ultimately and rather wonderfully make their own.

'Star Trek' bold, but neophytes may feel a bit lost

J.J. Abrams' hugely anticipated summer extravaganza "Star Trek" boldly goes to the past within the distant future of the "Trek" universe, years ahead of the TV series and the myriad movies and spin-offs it spawned.
And in doing so, he and his longtime collaborators, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, change everything you know - or obsess about, if you're into this kind of thing - about the kitschy pop-culture phenomenon.
It's a daring and exciting approach that's sure to tickle and provoke purists, while at the same time probably cause neophytes to feel a bit lost.
A major plot twist pops up - which includes the arrival of Leonard Nimoy - about halfway through the film, a twist that doesn't exactly work and from which the film never completely recovers.
Having said that, Abrams clearly aimed to appeal to the broadest possible audience with this dazzling visual spectacle while also leaving plenty of Easter eggs for the hardcore fans to find. If there's any social or political subtext, as in the original series, it's difficult to determine; this "Star Trek" seems solely made to entertain. It's an absolutely gorgeous film with impeccable production design - the lighting is wondrous, almost heavenly - and lovely, tiny details frequently emerge from within the larger, grander images.
Abrams certainly puts on a good show - between television's "Lost" and the 2006 "Mission: Impossible" sequel he directed, there's no question the man knows how to stage an action sequence, and the opening gets things off to a thrilling start. He efficiently and satisfyingly presents the back stories of the men who will become Capt. James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and the half-Vulcan, half-human Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto) and puts them on a collision course with each other, which ups the excitement level early.
Kirk and Spock, you see, weren't always pals - at least not in this revisionist history. This "Star Trek" pits them as opposites and adversaries until they must reluctantly learn to function side by side for the greater good. Kirk was a brilliant young hotshot causing trouble in rural Iowa, talented beyond his years but self-destructive nonetheless; Spock was a brilliant young math whiz whose mixed ethnic heritage made him the target of Vulcan bullies who were just as geeky as he was. Pine gets the womanizing and the ego of Kirk, but in a younger state there's also a likable boyish enthusiasm about him; Quinto, meanwhile, plays Spock as a little more tentative and less Zen-like. But maybe that sense of inner peace comes in time.
All that informs their interaction once they join the Starfleet Academy and ultimately climb aboard the shiny U.S.S. Enterprise - which looks familiar but has been significantly updated from 40 years ago. Among them are the usual cast of supporting characters: Communications Officer Uhura (the graceful Zoe Saldana, who gets more to do than Nichelle Nicholls ever did on TV); over-the-top Medical Officer Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban, who gets to growl familiar lines like: "Dammit, man! I'm a doctor, not a physicist!"); Chief Engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (Simon Pegg in a lively bit of casting); reliable Helmsman Sulu (John Cho, showing he can do much more than comedy) and 17-year-old supergenius Chekov (Anton Yelchin, doing an intentionally cartoony Russian accent as an homage, even though he really is Russian).
Their shared enemy is the angry Romulan leader Nero (Eric Bana, borrowing Mike Tyson's elaborate facial tattoos), whose sharp, spiky ship resembles a malevolent version of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia. The source of his vendetta against Spock, and the entire Federation, is revealed as the film progresses, and it's a crucial part of that distractingly perplexing twist we mentioned earlier.
Either you'll go with it or you won't. Regardless, based on Abrams' ambition and scope in rejuvenating the franchise, it's clear it still has plenty of room to live long and prosper.
Two and a half stars out of four.
"Star Trek" - J.J. Abrams' hugely anticipated summer extravaganza "Star Trek" boldly goes to the past within the distant future of the "Trek" universe, years ahead of the TV series and the myriad movies and spin-offs it spawned. And in doing so, he and his longtime collaborators, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, change everything you know - or obsess about, if you're into this kind of thing - about the kitschy pop-culture phenomenon. It's a daring and exciting approach that's sure to tickle and provoke purists, while at the same time probably cause neophytes to feel a bit lost. A major plot twist pops up - which includes the arrival of Leonard Nimoy - about halfway through the film, a twist that doesn't exactly work and from which the film never completely recovers. Having said that, Abrams clearly aimed to appeal to the broadest possible audience with this dazzling visual spectacle while also leaving plenty of Easter eggs for the hardcore fans to find. If there's any social or political subtext, as in the original series, it's difficult to determine; this "Star Trek" seems solely made to entertain. It's an absolutely gorgeous film with impeccable production design - the lighting is wondrous, almost heavenly - and lovely, tiny details frequently emerge from within the larger, grander images. Two and a half stars out of four.

Great Scott, Simon Pegg is engineering a 'Star Trek' career

“I felt damn sexy wearing it," Simon Pegg purred into the phone, "and I took a lot of clandestine photographs in my trailer.”
The 39-year-old British comedy star was talking, thankfully, about his Starfleet uniform, which he declares to be “one of the most iconic uniforms in the history of fantasy,” and who would argue? The USS Enterprise is back in action this summer with a "Star Trek" reboot that has familiar names like Kirk, Spock and McCoy but with new faces in all those iconic roles.
Pegg is on board in the role of Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, made famous by the late James Doohan. The history and that sleek Federation uniform made the usually irreverent star from "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" into an awed fanboy snapping secret photos of himself despite the intense policy of secrecy for the film, which will arrive in theaters May 8.
“I obviously was slightly worried that I’d get caught or I’d lose my phone and somebody would hack into it and there would be pictures published,” said the actor. “We were frisked every night. We had to go through a special props detector. If we were caught stealing, we would be electrocuted.”
The $130-million revival directed by J.J. Abrams explores the earliest space adventures of the iconic crew of the Enterprise, the one made famous in the 1960s television series and then in a series of films that began in the 1970s. It's back to the future, essentially, but it's one with attitude and humor, especially with Pegg as the brilliant but somewhat daft Scotty.
“It’s a ‘continuing voyage,’ to quote the show,” Pegg said. “It very much embodies the spirit and the feel of the original without making it seem kitsch or camp. I think [original creator] Gene Roddenberry created something that was extremely optimistic; a utopian society of us all working together. I think it’s very timely, actually, with Obama coming into power. You have this genuine sense of renewal and hope pervading the world. The film is here at a pressing time.”
It’s the 11th film in the sci-fi franchise but a fresh new gamble since the team behind the film aspires to win over a generation of young fans who don't know "Trek" as well as the nitpicking loyalists from the old days. A behemoth undertaking that holds a risk of alienating the franchise’s built-in audience, as well as not attracting a new one.
“I know the fans are concerned and I understand it’s a beloved thing, but there’s a dialogue in there between the film and fans that they will appreciate,” said Pegg, who also lends his voice to this summer’s "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," which will hit theaters June 1. “There’s always the Holy Grail with an existing franchise like a comic book or something that has had a preexisting fan base. You try and bring it to a new audience and please the old one -- and you often fall between the two. But I think J.J. has managed to do both, and it’s a hell of a trick.”
Pegg would know. He’s a self-proclaimed Trek “geek,” who has an “unhealthy” knowledge of sci-fi, horror and comics . As a boy, he would watch the series on the BBC at dinnertime. Nearly three decades later, he was the only member of the cast who didn’t have to audition for the remaking of one of his favorite childhood series. Abrams, a "Shaun of the Dead" fan, who previously cast Pegg as a quirky supporting player in "Mission: Impossible III," simply sent him an e-mail that read: "Do you want to play Scotty?

The most highly anticipated new Star Trek movie since Robert Wise's 1979 Star Trek: The Motion Picture will be released on May 8, 2009 with J.J. Abrams at the helm. Not a lot is known about the plot as this is one of those most secretive productions in recent memory -- Abrams has a tendency to do that (read: Cloverfield). Sonita Henry, who plays the first person to ever meet James Tiberius Kirk -- as the doctor who delivers him -- joins us to discuss her role, what it is like working with Abrams, some minor spoilers and the possibility of getting her own action figure.

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