Star Trek

The term "reboot" has been a popular one with many film franchises in recent years. "Batman Begins" and "Casino Royale" were both outstanding rejuvenations of what had been struggling franchises. Now "Star Trek" is giving it a try with its latest entry, a film simply called, "Star Trek," or as I like to call it, "Star Trek: The First Film of This Series Without a Colon In the Title...You Know, Except For The One Indicating That There's No Colon."
J.J. Abrams's film takes us back to the beginning. In fact, James Tiberius Kirk isn't even born until the end of a spectacular opening sequence in which his father gives his life to save nearly a thousand from the vengeful Romulan, Nero (Eric Bana). Nero's on the trail of Spock even though he is also unborn. That's right kids. Time travel is a plot device in "Star Trek." (I'm sure when they decide to reboot "Three's Company" the story will revolve around some sort of misunderstanding.) What's noteworthy is the clever use of time travel in this film. It allows for some subtle (and some not so subtle) changes in characters, motivations, and "Star Trek" canon, which I won't spoil for you here.
The childhoods of Kirk and Spock are briefly touched on before we catch up with the reckless teenage Kirk (Chris Pine), as he hits on Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and picks a fight with four large members of Starfleet Academy. He's headstrong and brash, but Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) sees something in the young man and invites him to come to the Academy. "In four years you could be an officer. In eight you could have your own ship," Pike tells him. And so begins the journey of James T. Kirk.
Written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman ("Transformers"), "Trek" introduces us to the characters we all know and love while constantly keeping things moving. Abrams never slows down as we meet Bones (Karl Urban), Sulu (John Cho), Chekhov (Anton Yelchin), and quite far into the film, Scotty (Simon Pegg). Only Kirk, Spock (Zachary Quinto), and to a lesser extent, Uhura, are allowed much time for character development. However when you consider how fully Kirk and Spock are developed, particularly the dynamics of their legendary friendship, it's an acceptable sacrifice. Quinto does a fine job as Spock, but Pine is really fantastic. He never makes the mistake of trying to ape William Shatner. He fearlessly and unapologetically makes the character his own. The scene in which we see Kirk take the Kobayashi-Maru Test (much discussed in "The Wrath of Khan," the best "Trek" movie) is an instant classic. Most of the supporting cast give terrific performances as well, most notably Saldana, Cho, and Pegg. I had some trouble with Urban's Bones as it felt like he was doing an impression of DeForest Kelley, but in the 48 hours or so since I saw the movie, I've come to like his work here. As for Yelchin, he seems to be doing a caricature of Walter Koenig's Chekhov, making him the cast's weakest link.
So all in all, some minor flaws aside, "Star Trek" is an absolute blast and the most fun a "Trek" film has been since James Doohan beamed up some whales. I can't speak for the fanboys, but as a casual "Star Trek" fan I was highly entertained. I get the feeling I'll enjoy this even more the second time around. Bob out. 8/10.