Star Trek
Director: J.J. Abrams
Year Released: 2009
Rating: 1.5
Young Adult-targeted revamp of the famous TV show expends a lot of energy trying to make the original less tacky - it succeeds, I guess, but that's not exactly high praise. Abrams uses George Lucas' 'prequel' method of showing how the U.S.S. Enterprise first got its famous crew members - Kirk the hothead, Spock the analytical one, McCoy the flustered, etc. - but the script is formulaic, making for another barely satisfying Popcorn Movie Money Machine: there's a terrible time-travel gimmick, a displeasing overuse of lens flare (suddenly, beams of light across the screen!) and copious fan service to try to appease die-hards. Even blander than the script is the screen talent, so when someone actually amusing and charismatic appears onscreen - Simon Pegg as Scotty - it only makes someone like Chris Pine (as Kirk) look even more flat. But really, people … get a life.
