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If I ever have to face a congressional inquiry on the matter of allegiance to a science-fiction franchise, I can easily say that I am not now and never have been a Trekker. For the uninitiated, a Trekker has followed the prolific “Star Trek” industry of endless TV series and movie spin-offs since the days of the Lyndon Johnson administration.
Indeed, we are talking ancient history, which explains the desire of Paramount Pictures, director J.J. Abrams and writers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman to rejuvenate the franchise and deliver something more appealing to an audience not yet drawing Social Security. As a non-Trekker, I think they have succeeded admirably to reboot the whole package with great thrills, explosive action and character-driven drama, while tossing in some humor and wit for good measure.
Following on the heels of last week’s “X-Men” prequel, “Star Trek” is an equally good prelude, bringing vigorous new life to a moribund franchise that has lost its cachet in modern pop culture. This new “Star Trek” should, for all the right reasons, revive interest in its futuristic adventures for audiences young and old.
To be sure, the old-line Trekkers may find some elements objectionable and lacking the requisite purity. As a more disinterested party, I find the latest and improved “Star Trek” to be a very welcome development.
Right from the start, the movie begins with a bang, as the U.S.S. Kelvin battles a Romulan vessel in outer space. We are quickly introduced to a George Kirk, who briefly assumes command of the Kelvin before disaster strikes. At the same time, Kirk’s wife, shuttled to safety with other crew members, gives birth to their baby boy, James Tiberius Kirk.
After the dazzling space battle, the film settles into a stretch of the childhood development of James T. Kirk, who is portrayed as an undisciplined, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy.
As the brash Kirk (Chris Pine) matures to adulthood, he remains a brooding rebel, though full of smarts and charm. At first, he rejects overtures to join the Starfleet Academy, but then, after spotting the U.S.S. Enterprise under construction, he can’t resist signing up for what is sure to be his destiny.
Life at the Academy puts him into conflict with a young Spock (Zachary Quinto), who tends to think he’s smarter than anyone else. The interesting thing about the young Spock is that because his mother (Winona Ryder, in a brief role) is human, he fights an internal battle with his Vulcan upbringing.
Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) spots the great potential in the young Kirk, probably weighing his leadership skills and independent thinking as more valuable than cool-headed reason. Hey, that’s why we have Spock on board. In fact, Kirk and Spock don’t exactly hit it off like a pair of old drinking buddies marooned in a cantina.
During a grueling set of exams, Spock charges Kirk with cheating, nearly derailing the young cadet’s desire to hook up with the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Early on, Kirk made friends with Medical Officer Leonard “Bones” McCoy (Karl Urban), who affords a clever way for his buddy to make passage on the spaceship as it starts a dangerous mission.
The very existence of Vulcan is under attack from the renegade Romulan forces under the command of Captain Nero (Eric Bana). Compared to the stylish beauty of the Enterprise, the dark, gargantuan Romulan mining vessel, the Narada, looks ugly and threatening, and it is equipped with a massive drilling device that will blow up any planet.
When Pike is taken hostage, Kirk and Spock wrestle over control of the Enterprise, leading to Kirk’s banishment to an ice planet. Caught it the middle of the struggle are the familiar faces in the crew, including communications officer Uhura (Zoe Saldana), navigator Sulu (John Cho) and whiz kid Chekov (Anton Yelchin).
Some of the great fun in “Star Trek” is finding out how the Enterprise crew came together in their early days. During his exile, Kirk teams up with engineer Scotty (Simon Pegg, who brings just the right amount of comic relief). Stuck with a bunch of turbines in an underground bunker, Scotty is relieved to encounter another human, but what he most wants is just a sandwich.
Leonard Nimoy enters the picture as Spock Prime (don’t ask me to explain this, because it has something to do with time travel or something). In any case, Kirk and Scotty make their way back to the Enterprise just in time for the epic battle with Nero and his Romulan thugs.
“Star Trek” is so thrilling and exciting that it’s possible to overlook or forget the 40 years plus of the franchise’s development. It all starts anew with a great cast of young characters, full of vitality and exuberance. “Star Trek” is well worth seeing and should go forth boldly with more adventures.
One can only hope they come up with better villains the next time. The Romulan thugs are not very impressive, with Eric Bana’s tattooed Nero looking more like a street punk hoping to join a heavy metal band than the scary villain he should be.
DVD RELEASE UPDATE
One of the best action movies of the year, filled with suspense and gut-wrenching excitement, is “Taken,” and now it is finally in release on DVD.
Liam Neeson is superb as the former CIA operative who’s estranged from his teenage daughter, but desperately wants to reconnect with her.
His chance arrives under the most unfortunate circumstances. When his daughter is kidnapped by a ruthless Albanian gang on a Paris vacation, Neeson’s special skills and killer instinct will come in handy when he turns into a one-man army in search of the abductors.
With precious little time to locate his daughter, Neeson skips the diplomatic protocol and launches into a full-scale war against some really bad dudes, one of whom he subjects to very effective electrical torture during an interrogation.
The ACLU might not want you to enjoy this film, but it did exceedingly well at the box office.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
