Based in large part upon the success of Batman Begins and Casino Royale (and, some have argued, the large studio’s desire to get extra mileage our of their established franchises during tough economic times) Hollywood seems to have a recent obsession with origins stories. So with trepidation I, along with millions of others, went to seek out new life and new civilizations on this opening weekend of Star Trek, the much anticipated rebirth of the the space pajamas that launched a slew of TV series and 10 prior feature films. While I can’t really imagine what would cause one to go to a Star Trek convention, I have to admit a certain soft spot for all things Trek.
As someone who also loved the previous Batman and Bond films (in all their cheesy glory), there was something exhilarating about both Batman Begins and Casino Royale in that they both warmly reminded you of what you loved about the originals and yet created something entirely new and vibrant that was, in many ways, actually better than the original. To my utter surprise, J.J. Abrams has created that feeling again with Star Trek. Sure, there are parts of the story that are implausible, even for a sci-fi franchise in which teleportation and time travel are taken for granted. In this case, a demented Romulan played by Eric Bana sets off a series of time-related events by which an old Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and a young one (Zachary Quinto) can coexist, where James Kirk (Chris Pine) is suddenly deprived the father who was in inspiration to him in old Spock’s reality, and a young Scottie (Simon Pegg) is cued in to use transporter technology that he hasn’t yet invented.
But the time-warp convention isn’t what makes this incarnation of the Star Trek story compelling. In fact the effort reveals itself as a strained attempt to allow Nimoy to actively appear in the film, rather than through the traditional cameo. But when an audience is genuinely engaged (no pun intended) and having fun, 
much can be forgiven. Through a combination of moderately reverent writing and brilliant casting (Quinto is Spock, let’s face it) these characters (including Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy and Anton Yelchin as Chekov), and the oddity of their future universe, have been recast such that they are elevated, rather than hampered, by the debt they owe to their previous versions.
Apparently the lead players are contracted for two more films, and I am hoping the creative team is able to pull a Spider-Man 2 rather than a Quantum of Solace. But that might be expecting too much. After all, every other Star Trek film is supposed to suck, right?
Here are this morning’s Oscar-nominated films, alphabetically. The nominees for foreign language film and documentary feature are compiled at the end of the list. (Short format nominees are listed in a 
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