Star Trek

B+

Directed by J.J. Abrams

"Lost" creator J.J. Abrams resurrects the timeless "Star Trek" series in time for summer blockbuster season and, hope against hope, it turns out to be a pretty darn good movie.

"Star Trek" opens with the death of Captain George Kirk, James' father, killed by Captain Nero who's planet, Romulus, had been destroyed in a previous intergalactic incident. Kirk's untimely demise comes at the exact same moment as his young son's birth. Abrams film follows James and young Spock as they make their way through Starfleet Academy and then join the USS Enterprise and ultimately come head to head with the evil Nero, still roaming the sky, seekign vengeance against those who allowed his planet to be destroyed.

Truth be told, I'm no Trekkie. In fact, I've probably watched Star Trek maybe once or twice in my life and never felt compelled in any way shape or form to follow the exploits of Spock and the USS Enterprise. However, as many of you already know, I am a fan of the summer blockbuster, so my past knowledge of Star Trek was really besides the point. I must say that despite my lack of knowledge of Star Trek, I never felt lost while watching the film, an indication that Abrams and Co. Willfully and succesfully dumbed down their film in an effort to attract as many viewers as possible. Although some Trekkies may have been put off by the wide reaching appeal of the film, most run of the mill moviegoers such as myself benefited greatly from not having to read or watch seasons and seasons worth of source material before sitting down to watch Star Trek. Star Trek's accessibility is far from its strongest point, however, and its visual style is worth noting. Indeed, Abrams and Co. take the bizarre and sometimes campy world of Star Trek and give it a contemporary, sleek veneer, making the world of Star Trek both familiar to those who grew up watching the show and yet believable visually exciting tho those who haven't.

Star Trek proves to be such a satisfying experience because Abrams sticks to the blockbuster game plan--bathe the screen in jaw dropping special effects, throw in some likable, recognizable, but non threatening cast members, leave out the moralizing or political grandstanding, and focus every fibre of your film's being on entertaining its audience. Although Abrams doesn't reinvent Star Trek in the way that Chris Nolan flipped the Batman franchise on its head, you cannot and should not expect every film adaptation of a TV show, film franchise, comic book, etc. to reinvent the wheel. In the end, Star Trek is a hugely entertaining film that is well worth the admission and even satisfying to Trekkies (or at least I imagine it was since I didn't hear much protest coming from them), which equals mission accomplished for Abrams and Co.