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Star Trek

STAR TREK directed by J.J. Abrams, written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman based on characters created by Gene Roddenberry, with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Zoe Saldana, Bruce Greenwood and Eric Bana. A Paramount Pictures release. 126 minutes. Opens Friday (May 8). For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: NNNN


Brace yourself for the nerdgasm.

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With his ingenious new reboot of Star Trek, J.J. Abrams brings the beloved but undeniably creaky franchise back to square one while still delivering a thoroughly contemporary science fiction adventure rooted in the spirit of Gene Roddenberry’s original conception.

Yeah, I’m a fan of the show.

And so, clearly, are Abrams and screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who’ve dug deeply into the rich lore to come up with a storyline that nods affectionately in the direction of established Trek dogma even as it tears it to shreds and starts all over again.

Literally setting aside the original series and everything that came after, Abrams turns the clock back to the maiden voyage of the USS Enterprise – captained by Christopher Pike, mind you, with a young Spock, Sulu, Chekov and Uhura among his crew of Starfleet cadets. Oh, and medical trainee McCoy snuck some asshole named James T. Kirk aboard at the last minute.

About that guy. If you’re going to Star Trek expecting a series of ironic nods to the characters of a hoary old television series, you might want to rethink that. Chris Pine is not William Shatner, and he isn’t trying to be instead, he finds another way to express the cocksure charisma that defined Shatner the icon. And now he’s got sound psychological motivation for his swagger even in the 23rd century, growing up fatherless will put one hell of a chip on your shoulder.

None of the actors indulge in rote replication of their predecessors. Zachary Quinto, John Cho and Zoe Saldana aren’t playing Leonard Nimoy, George Takei or Nichelle Nichols, they’re playing Spock, Sulu and Uhura. It’s probably worth pointing out that Karl Urban and Simon Pegg, playing the oldest of the original characters, come closest to channelling their forebears but still manage to imprint them with their own personalities. (Bruce Greenwood has a freer hand as Pike, who only exists as a memory of Jeffrey Hunter in the first place.)

Trek hard-liners (you know, the people who

endured all four seasons of Enterprise) may not like the way Abrams re-situates the concept, but that’s their problem. Abrams is playing within the rules the franchise has established for itself from the very beginning. And though he delights in dipping into the universe created in the original series, the director’s real inspiration is the more mature trilogy of films formed by Star Treks II through IV, which finally let the characters attain the mythic status they’d long since achieved in popular culture.

I haven’t mentioned the plot. Why spoil the fun? Each step of its development should come as a surprise – and yet, each step feels exactly right.

Abrams might be taking these characters somewhere new, but he knows where they’ve been, and it’s awfully comforting to see these people in the hands of someone determined to honour their legacy even as he tweaks it to his own ends.

Embracing its new beginning while still fondly referencing its past, this is the original Star Trek, and proudly so. And now it’s got a new warp core.

normw@nowtoronto.com

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