In theaters
STAR TREK, directed by J.J. Abrams, written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, 125 minutes, rated PG-13.
The new J.J. Abrams movie, “Star Trek,” is an anomaly.
At first glance, the whole premise behind the film seems illogical and a setup for failure — rebooting the iconic “Star Trek” franchise with an origins story meant to give depth and a new back story to characters we’ve come to know intimately over the past 43 years.
Pulling off such a feat meant wedding what we didn’t know to what we absolutely knew. If just the right tone wasn’t struck, and if the story failed to be a perfect match, all would be lost and this fleet would sink. There was no room for error here, particularly not with the fan base surrounding this series.
This is the same dilemma George Lucas faced when he went back to the cineplex with 1999’s “Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace,” which was a critical bust, straining to give new life to Luke and company in a movie that never built a convincing bridge between the new material and the entrenched older material.
That’s precisely how “Star Trek” could have gone down, but guess what? In Abrams’ capable hands, the film is hugely satisfying. Smart, jaunty and savvy, the movie takes Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman’s script and races with it, boldly opening a new chapter in the series while giving it a fresh shot of life in the process. Expect at least two more spinoffs from this movie, because that’s how Hollywood rolls when it has a hit franchise on its hands.
The film’s main focus is where it should be — on the relationship between James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto), who don’t exactly hit it off when they meet as young adults. When we first see them, each is emerging from difficult childhoods. Kirk lost his father in battle, and it affected him negatively — he’s a brawler with an attitude. Since Spock is half Vulcan and half human, he struggles not only with whether to eschew emotions completely, but also how to find his place in a prejudiced world that refuses to accept him.
It’s later that they come to throes as the wildly unpredictable Kirk manages to land himself aboard the maiden voyage of the USS Enterprise, from which he’s been banned. Amid the tension that erupts between him and Spock (Pine and Quinto are excellent in this movie), the film reveals its driving force — the evil Romulan, Nero (Eric Bana), is determined to ruin Spock and take out his planet, thus murdering billions of Vulcans.
It’s a setup that offers a wealth of Academy Award-worthy special effects, but truth be told, they take a back seat to the realization of the characters themselves.
It’s the cast that sells this movie. Uhura is beautifully realized by Zoe Saldana, who has enough sauce and vinegar to take on the likes of Spock in ways that might surprise plenty. Others are equally good — Karl Urban as Bones, an unlikely but spot-on Simon Pegg as Scotty, John Cho as Sulu, and Anton Yelchin as a 17-year-old version of Chekhov. Amid the action, time and care is given to rounding out each character, coupling such famous lines as, “I’m giving her all she’s got, captain!” to new material that gets to the crew’s naivete.
Grounding them and the movie even further is Leonard Nimoy, who returns as a much older version of Spock in a significant role that wasn’t shoehorned into the script simply to please fans. Abrams and his screenwriters were smarter than that, and what they gave Nimoy is a sweet part that’s no throwaway.
While it’s swell to see him back onscreen as Spock, it’s even more gratifying to see that thought and ingenuity went into how he was brought back to the franchise. Just how they did so involves time travel, which plenty will be happy to do themselves since “Star Trek” seamlessly meshes that past to the present, and is set to enjoy a deservedly long run at the box office. Grade: A-
On Blu-ray disc
ENEMY AT THE GATES, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, written by Annaud and Alain Godard, 131 minutes, rated R.
Jean-Jacques Annaud’s great-looking World War II movie, “Enemy at the Gates,” now out on Blu-ray disc, is so disinterested in its characters, it should have been called “Enigma at the Gates.”
Working from a script he co-wrote with Alain Godard, Annaud offers audiences a sometimes harrowing depiction of the Battle of Stalingrad. But since he’s more interested in capturing the guts and glitz of war than he is in keeping his characters out of the murky trenches of stereotype, his film ultimately lacks the soul and narrative pull it needed to succeed.
The film loosely follows the real-life story of Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law), a crack shot shepherd from the Ural Mountains who is sent to the frontlines of Stalingrad, somehow survives a ferocious battle against German troops, and then meets — atop a pile of rotting corpses — the Russian political officer who will forever change his life.
On orders from Nikita Kruschev (Bob Hoskins), the officer, Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), is in need of a hero who will inspire and give hope to the exhausted Russian troops. Choosing Vassili, Danilov turns the man’s unprecedented marksmanship and bravery into fodder for front-page news and radio propaganda.
Realizing that it’s just this sort of inspiration that can turn the tide of a war, the Germans send in their own sniper (Ed Harris) to eliminate Vassili. The result is a film less interested in the Battle of Stalingrad than it is in becoming a game of cat-and-mouse between two gifted marksmen we never come to know. Grade: C
WeekinRewind.com is the site for Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s blog, DVD giveaways and movie reviews. Smith’s reviews appear Fridays and weekends in Lifestyle, as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.
Renting a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases. Those capped and in bold print are new to stores this week.
Bangkok Dangerous — D
Body of Lies — C
Changeling — A-
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — A-
The Dark Knight — A
The Day the Earth Stood Still — C-
Dr. Seuss? Horton Hears a Who! — B-
Doubt — B
The Duchess — B+
Eagle Eye — D
Forbidden Kingdom — B-
Forgetting Sarah Marshall — B-
Frost/Nixon — A
Happy-Go-Lucky — B+
Hellboy II: The Golden Army — B+
High School Musical 3: Senior Year — B+
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People — C-
Igor — C-
The Incredible Hulk — B+
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull — B-
Iron Man — A-
LAST CHANCE HARVEY — B
Let the Right One In — A-
Mamma Mia! The Movie — B+
Marley & Me — B-
Milk — A
My Best Friend’s Girl — D
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist — B+
Quantum of Solace — B+
Rachel Getting Married — B-
The Reader — B
Role Models — B+
Saw V: BOMB
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 — B
Slumdog Millionaire — A-
VALKYRIE — B+
W. — C-
Wall-E — A
The Wrestler — A
Zack and Miri Make a Porno — C+