Reviewed by Richard Lee Zuras

Released May 8, 2009

2 hr. 6 min.

PG-13

J.J. Abrams/Paramount

Leonard Nimoy

Zachary Quinto

Chris Pine

Zoe Saldana

Eric Bana

Bruce Greenwood

Simon Pegg

John Cho

When one watches the pilot episode of a tv show, one is usually advised to allow for the fact that pilot shows are at a disadvantage: they plan to run for a long time–exposing and engaging in character study as new plots unfold and reveal character…all the while, the show must newly introduce some ten or fifteen characters and the world they inhabit.

So, for Star Trek, we have our campy memories of the show (and many dreadful “On gauge”) films to sweep away. This Abrams film is meant to be zero (the subtitle of the film), and it is meant to re-boot the franchise. It is simultaneously an extension of what has come before, and a first step from nothingness.

This means, for film-goers, that it posits itself in either or an enviable place, or an un-enviable place. That, and age, will divide most viewers. This is a straight down the line PG-13 film. It covers the fertile ground of school-age male fantasy (note that the female cadets of the future live in a go-go boot world that refuses to accept that Gloria Steinam was ever born), and shakes the camera enough to illicit the orient response.

But it does several things well. Quinto is perfectly cast as Spock (he was the first actor cast), and it is his character that is most adroitly explored. Whereas Pine’s Kirk is a cross between a wanna-be Tom Cruise (circa Cocktail) and a punching bag, Quinto’s Spock is a lesson in study. Quinto has clearly imbibed the Nimoy version, all the while making the persona his own. When he leaves a scene, the air is sucked out and quickly replaced with shaking camera action scenes. These scenes are full of errors–which of course is part of the point of “Sci-Fi.” But logic and continuity aside, many of the effects seem caught between the camp of the original show, and Abrams $150 million budget. Between the goofy red ice planet monster, and the rubber friend Scotty works with, one wonders if they are laughing at the right aspect.

And said humor is one of the many dividers. While Abrams makes a valiant attempt to imbue the film with campy humor, his screen-writers seem to have succumbed to the “throw it all and see what sticks” philosophy. While Bones’ constant attempts to inject Kirk w/vaccines create much of the Bones/Kirk dynamic, it is an example of how the film rides its jokes too far. In comedy, timing is everything, and this film seems to have lost its chances in the editing room.

The actors are signed for two sequels, and the set-ups for dramatic tension have been set. One only hopes the makers of these sequels spend more time mining what they’ve set in motion, and a little less time shaking the camera and the fake can of nuts.

Bottom line 3.5/5.0