Movie review: Star Trek

by John P. Meyer

What is it about the Star Trek universe (speaking figuratively) that keeps old fans coming back for more and new fans jumping onto the matter-antimatter mixing bandwagon?

It's the characters, of course.

Forget about the outer space setting, the alien races with their exotically-hued skins, the high tech sci fi gadgetry and the apocalyptic, world-in-the-balance, high-stakes story lines - it's the characters that count, and it seemed pretty clear that if new U.S.S. Enterprise helmsman J.J. Abrams got the characters right, the rest of his franchise-resurrecting magic trick would be a lead pipe cinch.

Well, he did.

We hadn't seen Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scottie, Chekov, Sulu and Uhura on the big screen since the final bow of the original film franchise with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. And - as the Wolf Brand Chili man used to say - "Neighbor, that's too long."

[It's O.K. if you don't remember the Wolf Brand Chili man (who turns out to have been Ken Farmer) or what he used to say - I'm comfortable being identified with the classic Star Trek TV era, when commercials such as that done by the Wolf Brand Chili man played live on the tube. In those halcyon days I'd return to my UT Jester Center dorm room after classes and tune in for my daily (rerun) Star Trek episode fix. Regardless of how many times I'd seen it before. Because the cheesiness of the sets, the ethically challenging subject matter and the iconic characterizations made them addictive. (Not to mention those skimpy yeoman costumes.) I could probably quote lines of dialogue from most of the episodes before they were spoken, though of course that was long, long ago.]

The Kirk, Spock and etc. that we meet in this new Trek outing are different people: they're the younger, formative-era, Star Fleet rookie recruit versions of the characters played by Shatner, Nimoy and the rest. But - and here's where the moviemaking magic comes into play - it's easy to recognize them for who they will become.

I'm not talking so much about physical appearance (although Zach Quinto's resemblance to a young Nimoy is indeed remarkable - especially post-prosthesis) as I am about the way the characters choose their words or react to situations. Abrams and his writers - Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (and, of course, the new stable of "Enterprising" actors) - have successfully pre-envisioned the familiar personas of the denizens of the NCC-1701's bridge.

Which is not to imply that the movie suffers from "derivative-itis." Rather than wallowing in an homage to the source material, the movie celebrates it, while implementing their own fresh story ideas and character nuances. Which will have ticket buyers celebrating in their own right in the weeks to come.

It should surprise no one acquainted with the J.J. Abrams oeuvre to learn that the plot of Star Trek hinges upon a time travel element. There's this rogue Romulan named Nero (Eric Bana, barely recognizable behind pancake and facial tattoos) set on exacting revenge (ah, the familiar REVENGE motif!) against a certain Vulcan ambassador who's done him (Nero) wrong. And he's willing (nay, eager) to wipe out entire civilizations to ease his anguish. Talk about your egotism.

At his disposal, Nero has a really keen, truly immense, evil-squid-looking space ship from the future equipped with a miles-long barbed-wire-ish drilling rig that emits a beam of (whatever) to bore its way into the planetary core of whichever planet he wishes to demolish. The rest is accomplished with a dollop of "red matter," which I advise you to steer light years clear of if you value your structural integrity.

We first encounter Nero and his minions as James Kirk is about to be born in the chaos of battle; James' dad, George (Chris Hemsworth) has taken command of the U.S.S. Kelvin while Captain Robau (Faran Tahir) shuttles over to the evil-looking alien ship to have a (brief) confab with Nero. After which all Hell breaks loose, as does the water of Winona Kirk (Jennifer Morrison) while she flees the battle zone in a shuttle craft.

Twenty-five years later (Stardate 2332.5, or whatever), young James Tiberius Kirk (Chris Pine) is whiling away his time in Iowa (still flat and featureless, except for that pesky canyon) when he gets into a bar fight over a gorgeous dame who happens to be a Star Fleet cadet (Zoe Saldana, as Uhura). It's as a result of this altercation that he meets Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood, whose character hearkens back to the one played by Jeffrey Hunter in the 1966 pilot for the original series). Pike challenges Kirk to "be the best that he can be" by joining Star Fleet, and the rest is prehistory.

Meanwhile, back on Vulcan, young Spock (Zachary Quinto - a.k.a. Sylar, from the Heroes TV series) goes through his own formative years, hindered in theory by his mixed parentage: his father, Sarek (Ben Cross) served as ambassador to Earth, and thus deemed it sensible (not to mention expeditious) to marry up with an Earth babe (Winona Ryder as Amanda Grayson). While Spock excels at all things logical and succeeds in burying his emotions, a few taunts directed at his mom are all it takes to get him riled. And the Vulcan kids won't like him when he's riled.

Kirk and Spock meet up at Starfleet Academy when James T. appears before the governing board to defend his purported cheat during execution of the Kobayashi Maru problem - which Spock designed to be unwinnable. (Kirk solves the problem, and therefore must have cheated. Logic dictates.) But the hearing is put on hold when Nero kicks up a ruckus anew, sending all hands (both active ratings and recruits) to battle stations.

By this point - about 40 or 50 minutes in - Kirk has already palled up with Leonard McCoy (Karl Urban, brooding and cantankerous as befits the character); and as soon as he gets aboard the Enterprise (in hilariously surreptitious fashion) he makes the acquaintance of Sulu (John Cho) and Chekov (Anton Yelchin, struggling a bit with the hyperbolized Russkie accent). The main contingent seems to be complete, but someone's still missing. Hm... who could it be?

Of course! It's engineer Montgomery Scott, a.k.a. Scotty, who's malingering on a remote outpost with only a cute little ewok-like critter to keep him company. Until a jettisoned troublemaking cadet and a Vulcan from the future stumble into his living room to seek counsel regarding a tricky transporter problem.

Scotty (version J.J. Abrams) is portrayed by Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Run Fatboy Run), and who better to inject that old familiar mayhem-craving, caution-to-the-wind, brogue-tinged glee into the role? (Answer: no one.)

With the cast of characters thus established and the plot elements thus defined, our discussion lacks only an analysis of execution. Here, too, the filmmakers succeed, dishing up spectacular effects and thrilling action sequences rivaling the best of the canon. We're treated to excellent Dolby-enhanced warping (Boom!); outstanding swirly-buzzing beaming; a menagerie of bad-ass beasties (nod to Cloverfield); and phaser blasts that thud into bulkheads like metal bolts. The swashbuckling encounter atop the drilling platform, which pits Kirk and Sulu against a pair of clearly more adept Romulan fighters, is intense enough to defeat the most effective of antiperspirants.

Accompanying the visuals is an absolutely Wagnerian score provided by frequent Abrams collaborator Michael Giacchino (Alias, Lost, MI3, Fringe). The music employs soaring vocals in counterpoint to epochal space battles and scenes of alien splendor (and I'm not just talking about Rachel Nichols, as Kirk's green-skinned paramour, Gaila). Good stuff.

The most blatant tribute to the Treks of the past comes in the final reel, when Pine unleashes the full broadside of his Shatner affectations on the bridge of his new command vessel. And during the end credits, which (SPOILER!) feature the original series theme as accompaniment. Nice touch, J.J.

And then there's the voice of the ship's computer.

One telling micro-indicator of the success of the movie came at the end of our preview screening, when a huge percentage of the audience remained in their seats right through the credits - either in reverential tribute to the scrolling page after page of digital artists, or (more likely) in hopes of catching a tease line for the "Untitled Star Trek Sequel". (No such luck.)