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NEW ‘STAR TREK’ MOVIE WINS OVER EVEN THE CYNICS – LIKE ME
“Star Trek”
•••• (out of four)

By JOHN YOUNGREN

Well, here’s the thing: I love “Star Trek.” As my mother pointed out tonight, it’s one of the “big three” in my life – “Star Trek,” The Beatles and the New York Yankees. Pretty well rounded, actually. Nerd, rock and sports. I’ll take it.

And I’ll take them.

So when everyone started talking about a new “Star Trek” movie a year or two ago, I was skeptical. That’s not to say I wasn’t interested. I admire J.J. Abrams – the director and creative mind behind the new “Star Trek” movie – for his genius on “Felicity,” “Alias” and, of course, “Lost.” Some of my favorite TV shows in the past 10 years, and all very different. He’s of my generation; a creative writer-director with a fan’s soul, and though he said he was never much of a “Star Trek” fan, he still seemed a perfect choice to lead to a reboot.

Still, I was wary – mainly because “Star Trek” (especially the original series and its movie sequels, and “The Next Generation”) were stories I always loved. I saw Zachary Quinto (the movie’s new Spock) and Chris Pine (new Kirk) do their interviews and appearances and I knew Leonard Nimoy was supposed to be in the new movie (playing “my,” or “prime” Spock) but I still doubted.

And I did all the way through its opening weekend, when “Star Trek” (J.J. didn’t add any shit to the title – no “VI” or “Origins” or “The New Beginning”) – opened to like $404 billion in business and suddenly (Quinto, who seems like kind of a prick, and Pine, who seems pretty cool) were appearing everywhere, including a bunch of magazine covers and “Saturday Night Live.”

And funny thing is? They were getting great reviews. From “Trekkies” and “Trekkers” alike. And most of all, from non-fans. People I work with who would have never thought of seeing an old “Star Trek” show or film were all over it. Suddenly, “Star Trek” is cool.

And I took notice.

And today I saw the fucking movie.

And tonight I give it four dots, as high as I can go. And I tell you (and I realize I’ve started the last six of seven sentences with “and,” but that’s my business) that this “Star Trek” movie was incredible. Infucking credible.

It plays with “Star Trek” themes like time travel and space exploration and cowboys in space. It has younger actors doing their best to embody the well-worn “Star Trek” characters we love and know so well; at times, it’s a little like “Muppet Babies,” or whatever. It’s all explained as an alternate timeline – meaning there’s a reason why the spaceship (I know – the Starship) Enterprise looks different, and people are dressed differently and Uhura is making out with Spock. (!) But that’s all OK. Once you go with it, you go with it – and the new movie has enough reflection of canon (all the Trekkies are ragging about canon; fuck you Trekkies) to make it all make sense.

Despite my misgivings, I grew to like Quinto as Spock, even though I’m not sure I like Quinto. Despite my misgivings, I loved Pine as Kirk – even though I was once one of the people who said I’d always choose Shatner’s Kirk even over Patrick Stewart’s Picard, so entranced was I by the original captain. But Pine sold me. I wasn’t even thinking about Shatner anymore by time the new movie’s Kirk ran into the old universe’s Spock, played by Nimoy (who is so much more central to the plot than his cameo-feeling appearance might have hinted at).

Whatever. I won’t do it all here. Suffice to say, young Kirk and Spock meet and do battle (and battle over the sexy Uhura, never hinted at in the original series but certainly acceptable in this altered reality as played by Zoe Saldana and I can’t figure out how to do the typographic thing she needs to do over the “e” in her first name) and come upon Captain Pike, Scotty, Chekov, Sulu, Dr. McCoy (brilliant Karl Urban) and others, familiar and not, all of whom make up the grand “Star Trek” tapestry. Kirk, the young hotdogger, is particularly illuminating. Quinto eventually sells Spock – especially in a late scene with Nimoy, who is vital to the movie’s logic, and the franchise’s future. And it’s all so well done with such an appreciative nod to the “Star Trek” past – and pedal down for the future – that you can’t help but get caught up in it.

I’m not spoilering when I say that at the end of the day the new crew of the Starship Enterprise (NCC-1701, not any of those letter suffixes that make things complicated in later versions) sails off for new and high adventures. I might spill it a bit when I say that it’s once again Nimoy’s voice that sells (for the first time since “Star Trek II – The Wrath of Khan,” I believe) the preamble:

“Space. The final frontier.
These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.
Its ongoing mission…
To seek out new lives, and new civilizations.
To boldly go where no one has gone before.”

And then, in the movie, for the first noticeable time, as the final credits played, so did the “Star Trek” theme.

I have to say, I shed a tear or two.

God bless you, J.J. And God bless you, “Star Trek” fans. Now we reboot.

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ON THE DOT: Now back in business (with a modified rating system) the “John Youngren Dot Com” blog (once known as “Pop Stew”) should be updated regularly. And remember, as always, this is just an exhibition; it is not a competition – so please, no wagering. To contact John, e-mail johnyoungren@mac.com