Star Trek (Rhoades)

“Star Trek” Arrives At Warp Speed

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

No, this “Star Trek” movie is not boldly going where no man has gone before. That’s because there have been ten previous “Star Trek” films, not to mention 79 episodes of TV’s original “Star Trek,” 172 episodes of “Star Trek Voyager,” 178 episodes of “Star Trek: Next Generation,” 98 episodes of “Star Trek: Enterprise,” and 176 episodes of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.”

Having run out of sequels for the movie franchise, Paramount now turns to a prequel.
“Star Trek” – the story of a young James T. Kirk and his Vulcan cohort – is currently playing at Tropic Cinema.

This time around, this youthful version of Captain Kirk is fighting Romulans from the future, interstellar enemies who are trying to interfere with history by (you guessed it) destroying the Federation.

Forget porcine William Shatner and wizened Leonard Nemoy. Paramount is aiming for a much younger, hipper audience. Enter Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, the Generation Y answer to Kirk and Spock.

Eric Bana (the one-time “Hulk”) is the Romulan bad guy. Ben Cross (“Chariots of Fire”) shows up as Spock’s father and Wynona Ryder (“Girl, Interrupted”) steals in as his mother. Simon Pegg (“Hot Fuzz”) holds the reactors together as Scotty. My old friend Bill Civitella’s client Zoë Saldana (“Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”) makes a terrific Urhara.

Remember I said to forget Leonard Nemoy? Scratch that. He reprises his old role as Spock – albeit Spock from the future. Shatner wanted to do the same, but his character was killed off in “Star Trek Generations.”

The Star Trek series was created by the late Gene Roddenberry, but this movie was conceived and directed by J.J. Abrams, the wunderkind who gave us TV’s “Alias” and “Lost.” He hopes to revive this once profitable but now lost-in-space film franchise.

Bet you my Star Trek lunchbox he succeeds!

srhoades@aol.com
[from Solares Hill]