THE CRITIC-AL LIST
5 STAR FAB - 1 STAR RUBBISH

The Taking of Pelham 123
Transformers
The Revenge Of The Fallen
Antichrist
Terminator Salvation
Last House On The Left
Inglorious Basterds
Adventureland
Star Trek
Crank: High Voltage
Coraline
Dragonball Evolution
Let The Right One In
Drag Me To Hell
Race to Witch Mountain
Knowing
Monsters Vs. Aliens
Not Quite Hollywood
Lesbian Vampire Killers
Martyrs
The Children
Surveillance
Watchmen
The Unborn
The International
Friday The 13th
Franklyn
Push
Punisher:War Zone
The Uninvited
Amusement
The Good The Bad And
The Weird
Hush
Underworld
The RIse OF The Lycans
My Bloody Valentine
Bolt
Slumdog Millionaire

Directed by J.J. Abrams. Starring John Cho, Ben Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Winona Ryder, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, with Eric Bana and Leonard Nimoy. Sci-Fi, USA, 123 min. Web Site.

Three decades ago the STAR TREK crew landed on the big screen with a momentous thud in what was quickly dubbed THE MOTIONLESS PICTURE. More in thrall to contemporary cutting-edge STAR WARS special effects technology than the narrative values of producer Gene Roddenberry’s space opera, its thematic humanitarian motifs or the beloved characters, director Robert Wise’s overblown epic nevertheless kicked off a new ‘Captain’s Log’ series of cinematic adventures.

Five TV spin-offs and ten movies later the variable series ended with the gloomy NEMESIS in 2003. Now comes THE NEXT GENERATION that’s really the Old Generation in New Generation disguise. And as a re-branding exercise J. J. Abram’s STAR TREK couldn’t be more dazzling, thrilling, beautifully judged, affectionate or gorgeous to look at. Perfectly pitched to satisfy every Trek fan while ensuring the more broader sci-fi blockbuster action audience will be nostalgically searching again for their inner Trekker, this stunning prequel puts the franchise back on intergalactic track. Beginning with the spaceship birth of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) just as his father is killed in a Romulan massacre, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman boldly going exemplary script then charts how rebel Kirk grows up to become captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise. How his famous pop culture crew came together and, more importantly, how he forged his lifelong friendship with conflicted half human, half Vulcan Spock (Zachary Quinto). All this takes place against a backdrop of Starfleet Academy japes and scrapes, Vulcan officialdom, ice planets, scary CLOVERFIELD-style monsters, Leonard Nimoy’s touching cameo appearance and gargantuan drilling machines as the Federation takes on Nero (Eric Bana), a rogue Romulan from the future, bent of blowing up Earth by depositing a bomb at its centre. The conjuring trick here is how its amazing special effects (the tentacle Romulan spacecraft really is a surreal thing of beauty), fabulous production design and smart sense of humour tap into the TV series Swinging 60s origins while showcasing them all in state of the art techniques and directorial skill. Nor could the performances be better with Simon Pegg’s Scotty, Karl Urban’s Dr McCoy and Zoe Saldana’s Uhuru matching the terrific turns by Pine and especially HEROES anti-hero Quinto. They’d all better get used to wearing their Enterprise uniforms because the rebooted series has clearly embarked on a continuing course to live long and prosper.

Definitely the summer movie of the year, the only way it could have made more money than it’s going to would be if the crew had sung ABBA songs on the Enterprise deck.

Alan Jones

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