At the Admiral: 'Star Trek'

Prequels…the final frontier.

At some point every action franchise goes there, back to the place where it all began, hoping to mine a little juice from a story line that’s gone long in the tooth.

Usually it’s a fool’s journey. Screenwriters run into the unforgiving fact that back-stories play more vividly in our imaginations than splashed across the multiplex screen and casting directors fail to capture the ephemeral qualities that made these characters our favorites.

None of these well-documented pitfalls discouraged the "Star Trek" franchise from telling the story about how Kirk, Spock and the rest of the Enterprise crew first got together. And neither, surprisingly enough, did they stop “Star Trek” from turning into the most entertaining film of the entire Star Trek franchise.

If you have even a passing acquaintance with the original “Star Trek” television series, this film is a lot of fun to watch.

Like all prequels, “Star Trek’s” plot starts out with a lot of moving parts. The story bounces between the planet Vulcan, Earth, a couple of spaceships, a wormhole and even the escape pod that James Kirk is born in.

The film is obliged to give us a history lesson on how this gang of television’s most famous space travelers came to be, but it’s kept mercifully short. The real fun begins when the characters are introduced to each other (When Scotty (Simon Pegg) first shows up on the Enterprise he is accidentally beamed into one of its water pipes).

“Star Trek’s” screenwriters know that they’re telling a story in reverse. They need to sketch the beginning stages of relationships whose ultimate arc we, as an audience, are very familiar with. It’s a tricky task and they succeed, to a large part, by keeping a sure grip on their sense of humor and avoiding the trap of being overly reverential. They balance the film’s action with lighter moments that reveal pieces of the characters that “Star Trek” fans have come to love.

In one of the film’s most dramatic scenes, Kirk (Chris Pine) leads a team on a combat mission freefalling through the stratosphere attempting to land on a small platform suspended from an enemy spaceship. It’s a highly dangerous task and Sulu (John Cho) talks his way onto the team by claiming advanced martial arts training which he later confesses was collegiate fencing.

But the real magic of “Star Trek” comes from its cast. They are all talented young actors who manage to capture the essence to their television counterparts. And some of the performances are surprising.

Karl Urban, best know as the aloof Rohan prince in “The Lord of the Rings” and the stone-cold Russian assassin in “The Bourne Supremacy,” gives a wonderfully cranky performance as Bones.

The most difficult casting choice was always going to be Captain Kirk. How do you pick a young actor who could plausibly morph into a ham like William Shatner? Chris Pine strikes the right note bringing a satisfying blend of bravado and corniness to the role.

Add to this a respectable plot with lots of spaceships being blown to bits and you have a pretty entertaining evening at the movies.

The central crisis that our young Starfleet officers face has to do with a immense spaceship that pops out of a wormhole from the future. Its captain, Nero (Eric Bana), has a grudge against The Federation and the technology to start blowing up planets one by one. (Who would have known that Eric Bana would make such a satisfying sci fi villain?)

Nero’s spaceship brings along a hitchhiker from the future. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), himself shows up to complicate things a bit and reinforce the connection to the television series.

In the past, transporting the original television cast into "Star Trek" films has left an awkward taste but not this time. “Star Trek” the film has a visceral understanding of “Star Trek” the television series.

There seems to be a mind meld between the two that should satisfy any “Star Trek” fan.

"Star Trek" is playing at the Admiral Theater through Thursday, Aug. 13 at 1:15, 3:50, 6:45 and 9:15 p.m.

http://www.westseattleherald.com/2009/08/09/features/admiral-star-trek