It's tempting to just leave this to the Trekkies and the obssessives, to let Star Trek be measured in its franchise terms: money, success, fealty to its origins. Doing that,though, would be a little cruel: Star Trek is an impressive accomplishment not because of how it "reboots" a familiar story, but because it is probably one of the best summer films ever, certainly in a long time (okay, maybe just since Iron Man - but even that suffers from Gwyneth Paltrow).
Just to be clear, I'm not a Trekkie... more like a very interested bystander. Star Trek was a formative experience for me - both the series and the initial 5 films - largely because of my cousin, Galen. He taught me the appeal of science fiction, the worlds of imagination it opened up (Galen's artistic impulses were opened up through drawing spaceships), and tthe way science fiction could make a better world... and us, better people. I still believe in all that. And it's why, Trekkie or no, I think Star Trek has a lot to live up to.
Star Trek takes the familiar elements of the legend - there's not a lot of American science fiction where "myth" and "legend" so readily apply - and shakes them up: yes, it's got the rainbow(ish) cast, the "can't we all get along" vibe, the tension between logic and gut instinct... but mostly, it's got a freshness and a willingness to modernize that should be celebrated. This is how "remakes" really should be remade. And full credit, clearly, goes to director JJ Abrams.
Star Trek starts with a bang and never lets go: we begin on the Starship Kelvin, which is confronted by a monstrous, clawlike spaceship and an unfamilar black hole. In short order, the Kelvin is under attack, is captain taken hostage and killed, and the first officer made Captain must evacuate the ship... including his pregnant wife, about to give birth.
The father is George Kirk, and the son is James Tiberius; and in 10 minutes the film has shown its understanding of the lore of Trekdom, and asserted its ability to reshape it. This James Kirk, a fatherless son, is a more troubled, rebellious soul than the original, taking outrageous chances (he wrecks an Uncle's Corvette at 12, sending it over a cliff and nearly hurtling to his doom), and less certan of his destiny.
Destiny still calls, and the new Captain Christopher Pike (that's another call to Trek types) serves as father figure and mentor to young Kirk, getting him to Starfleet Academy, where he falls in with the familiar array - a medical expert named McCoy, a communications student named Uhura, a recently graduated Vulcan named Spock. All of them (and a couple of navigators, Sulu and Chekhov) wind up on Pike's USS Enterprise, and are called to deal with a familiar challenge - that clawlike spaceship, which turns out to be a Romulan mining ship... from the future. (oooh.... aaah...) :)
By the time Leonard Nimoy(!) appears to fill in some of the blanks, the shape of things is coming clear - and while it may seem like a cheat to have "a wrinkle in time" account for manhandling of the past, it's also a brilliant stroke. By giving us the familiar characters, yet subtly shifting their realities, we really are starting fresh. And the fresh start feels right - this film has the energy and brashness of its youthful ensemble, yet it also conncts, respectfully and deeply, to the timeless elements that have made Trek such a cultural touchstone.
As Kirk, Chris Pine has the hardest, and biggest, shoes to fill, and given the room to make his own Kirk, he finds a new sort of bravura and brashness, while not losing sight of the character's fundamental decency. Shatner would - and should - be proud.
But the film in many ways belongs to its Spocks - Nimoy, reprising his old role with grace and dignity... and Zach Quinto, taking up the reins with every bit of the skill and elan one would expect. As a recent convert to Heroes, I've known for months that if anyone could make a new Spock work, it would be Quinto, whose performance as Sylar holds that show together (and Heroes, where George Takei and Nichelle Nichols have turned up, clearly acknowledges its history, too). Quinto too, has room to reshape the role of Spock... but wisely, hews closely to the original. The payoff, when the two Spocks finally meet, is entirely earned. And worth the price of admission.
The other roles, familiar and identifiable, benefit from fresh, youthful presences - James Cho (Harold of Harold and Kumar) is one lucky bastard to get Sulu by being in the right place at the right time. He's great... but lucky (what, was James Kyson Lee busy, for instance?). Zoe Saldana adds some sass as Uhura, and she's stunning eye candy... but she needs more to do (much as Nichelle Nichols always did). Simon Pegg makes a great Mr. Scott, Karl Urban (so far) an okay McCoy. But it's probably Anton Yelchin - recently moving into adult roles - who steals the show as Chekhov.
Of course, none of this would matter if the world surrounding them didn't work as well as it does - Star Trek is more than an ensemble show, deals in larger themes, bigger issues. The best advance Abrams has made is to think, in a modern way, about how to layer new ideas - mainly about psychology and human interaction - into such familar territory; added to the familiar motifs of justice and fairness is a profound sense of loss, whether its Kirk's for the father he (now) never knew, or Spock's for a homeland he can never have back, one where he never entirely belonged.
To be fair, Abrams isn't entirely perfect - his action sequences suffer from overly fast edits, and sometimes key characters and incidents get lost in the melees. The world of Starfleet he envisions is very, very white... not a good sign - Star Trek's adaptations over the years became more integrated not less, and in some ways, what Abrams does feels, truly, like a step backwards in this way, and in others. It's not to dismiss what he's accomplished... but he could have tried harder, done more. That leads, naturally, to the "what now" question that hangs over these "reboots" generally, though Abrams is at once in a position to go almost anywhere, and yet clearly respectful of what got us here. I have my quibbles... but I trust him. For now.
Truly hardcore Trekkies, of course, will never be satisfied... and why should they be? It's their story; the rest of us are interlopers, hangers-on, aliens. Few people, even the most visionary, could separate themselves from the pressure; that Abrams has managed that nifty trick - and turned back the clock - is impressive. Visionary, even... and now he can, boldly, go.
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