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By Cole Smithey

‘Star Trek’

Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban and Eric Bana. Rated PG-13, 126 minutes

Movie Trailer

Fusing a carefully chosen cast with stunning sci-fi spectacle, and a storyline that retains the workmanlike elements of Gene Roddenberry’s original television series, director J.J. Abrams successfully forms a new beginning for the Star Trek franchise.

Going back to the calamitous astral circumstances of James Tiberius Kirk’s birth, the story builds as the young rebellious Kirk (Chris Pine) joins the Starfleet Academy at the advice of U.S.S. Enterprise veteran Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood). Fast friendships, rivalries and romantic overtures connect Kirk to Dr. “Bones” McCoy (Karl Urban), Spock (Zachary Quinto), and Uhura (Zoe Saldana) before the crew is thrust into the thick of their first mission aboard the latest version of the Enterprise. Dark Romulan leader Captain Nero (Eric Bana) sets a trap for the Enterprise to enable the destruction of the planet Vulcan and Earth. Abrams savors establishing the relationships and quirks of Roddenberry’s Star Trek characters that arguably outshine every other sci-fi on-screen legacy. The ensemble succeeds in capturing the essence of his or her iconic character, and an extended cameo by Leonard Nimoy adds considerable flavor to the exhilarating spectacle on hand.

Screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman wisely choose to focus their story on the circumstances and personal characteristics of Spock and Kirk that bind them as friends and natural-born leaders. Spock’s heritage as a half-human Vulcan, whose emotions can interrupt his otherwise coldly logical approach to situations, exhibits a jealous competitiveness Kirk taunts with his purposeful physicality and strategic gamesmanship. When he defeats a training program that Spock has developed, Kirk is brought before his Starfleet peers and publicly put on probation by Admiral Barnett (Tyler Perry) for “cheating.” Spock’s visible sneers glance off Kirk who’s fast-friendship with the flight-fearing Medical Officer McCoy insures that Kirk will gain entry to the pending mission regardless of his persona non grata status.

The film’s main trump card is the way it balances lush astrophysical designs against the mammoth constructs of the Romulan vessel, and yet manages action set-pieces rooted in the kind of contained surroundings that gave the TV series its fuzzy underbelly. An exciting sequence involving a gigantic Romulan drill looming down on the Vulcan planet engages Kirk in some good old-fashioned hand-to-hand combat, while Sulu (John Cho) exerts martial arts influenced sword play. It’s a deliberate kind of action set piece that suggests a dose of humor for its restrained technology. There’s nothing forced or heavy-handed going on.

“Star Trek” is about a multi-ethnic culture working together to connect with the unknown. With its built-in mission statement, it represents a culture of civility and understanding that is universal. Perhaps that’s why the filmmakers have strived so hard to maintain the essence of a television series that has spawned more spin-off than any in the history of TV. This, however, is a movie that must be relished on the big screen to fully appreciate how big Star Trek has gotten. Indeed, Star Trek has lived long and prospered. CV

‘Battle for Terra’

Starring the voices of Luke Wilson, Evan Rachel Wood, Justin Long, Brian Cox and Danny Trejo. Rated PG, 85 minutes

Movie Trailer

Too thematically dim to hold the interest of adults, and too alienating and violent for young children, “Battle for Terra” is an off-putting animated sci-fi flick for no one. The 3-D planet of Terra is inhabited by a fundamentalist-based utopia society of large-eyed tadpole-like creatures that swim and fly through their planet’s atmosphere where everything resembles some form of organic plant life. An invasion force of earthlings is initially viewed as Gods until their mission of genocide becomes clear, and the Terrareans take to the skies with battle planes of their own. Mala (voiced by Evan Rachel Wood) is a freethinker (read: validated atheist) and plays Juliet to crash-landed Earthling astronaut Jim Stanton (Luke Wilson), whose affection for Mala might be the only thing to save her fragile planet from its human would-be occupiers. Impressive computer generated graphics are the only thing to recommend in this thematically tone-deaf sci-fi travesty.

“Battle for Terra” sits under a compressed glaze that renders its fantasy world as an opposite universe to the happier designs of Dr. Seuss’ Whoville. Giant whale creatures with origami hindquarters swim through the air where teenaged Mala and her submissive boyfriend Senn (Justin Long) fly their balsawood-seeming airplanes with the kind of delight that human kids enjoy bicycles. So it is that when human interlopers attack Terra as a last ditch effort to save their species after ruining Earth, Venus and Mars, Mala becomes a child soldier in the fight against the astral invaders. Screenwriter Evan Spiliotopoulos (“Pooh’s Heffalump Movie”) based the script on a story by the film’s director, Aristomenis Tsirbas, and shows no sense for where the limits of thematic indoctrination should be drawn for a children’s film. This project seems more like a child soldier recruitment film than a source of lighthearted entertainment.

After her religious fanatic father is captured and taken aboard the orbiting human spacecraft, Mala intentionally lets herself be captured so she can attempt to rescue her dad. Things don’t go as planned, and Mala is thrown into a torture chamber by the heartless General Hemmer (Brian Cox) who sets up an imposable choice for the freshly anointed hero soldier Jim Stanton, who must choose between his astronaut best friend or Mala.

The film’s many air battles tacitly conjure up “Star Wars,” albeit without its jocular humor and awe-inspiring attractiveness. The inclusion of plot-crucial Kamikaze attacks skew toward a thematic defense of suicide bombers that is at best a little disturbing. However much the animators enjoy flashy 3-D spectacle, the movie raises far too many red flags about the intention of its writers to smuggle in dubious political ideologies. From the gooey-eyed tadpole creatures that fight to the death to its smug ending, there is something very fishy about the “Battle for Terra.” CV

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