The more I go to these big-budget movies surrounded by “controversy” – the supposedly leaked “Wolverine” print, the Christian Bale “Terminator” tirade, the upstart re-casting of “Star Trek” – the more I realize that we’re just being played.

Wolverine was fine, and the leaked print was a good full-length trailer. Terminator looks fine, too, as Bale appropriately tirades through the entire movie. And Star Trek is better than fine, as it proves to be exceptionally faithful to Gene Roddenberry’s original creation.

The only criticism I’d have for this eleventh “Star Trek” movie – and yes, it truly earns its place in the “Star Trek” movie canon – is that it’s sometimes too visual. While it’s nice to see space shots where concepts like “up” and “down” are appropriately dismissed, sometimes there are too many things cluttering up the screen. Ships, debris, bodies, planets, torpedos, phaser streams, sparks and smoke – just calm down!

Otherwise, what a story! Producer/Director J.J. Abrams has done his homework, and has very cleverly rebooted the franchise.

First, the homework. The portrayals of the major characters from TOS (“The Original Series” – which was actually a major re-working of an earlier unsold version) are marvelously entertaining, and many references are made to the TOS bible. At first glance (I’ll watch it a few more times, I promise), I noted specific nods to the Jeffrey Hunter/Christopher Pike TV pilot, the prequel TV series “Enterprise,” the TV series “The Next Generation,” and the films “The Wrath of Khan,” “The Search for Spock,” “The Voyage Home,” and even “Nemesis” (II, III, IV, and X).

And here comes the “spoiler” …

As for re-booting the series, Bravo! 78-year-old Leonard Nimoy’s time-traveling Ambassador Spock from the original time line manages to kick off an entirely new time line with our favorite characters intact. This Enterprise crew can now have entirely new story lines and even revisit old story lines with new outcomes. This is a wonderful development!

The look is updated, but not in any offensive manner. Higher tech sights and sounds fit the budget while paying homage to the original low-budget presentation. Of all the new touches, my favorite is the Starfleet uniform. I always hated the original pants which flared out well above the ankles, and the gut-hugging velour shirts. Now the male crew members wear comfy jeans that gather nicely above the shoes, and cozy black undershirts. Much more practical. Uhura’s miniskirt and boots still wow. Sex sells.

Of course there’s the typical over-noisy fringe Trekkies/Trekkers who still want to see a plywood Enterprise bridge captained by a 79-year-old William Shatner. Get therapy! This is just a fictional series, albeit a long-lived and prosperous one.

(These are the same lunatics who frantically lobbied NASA to name the first non-space-bound shuttle “Enterprise,” while NASA had wanted to name a later, fully space-worthy ship after the “Star Trek” starship. These morons robbed history of its first actual spaceship named “Enterprise.”)

By the way, you nay saying nimrods, this franchise re-boot means that Kirk will NOT necessarily die to thwart the El-Aurian Soran, which opens up a logical story line for an octogenarian Shatner in “Star Trek XII,” due out in 2011. I can’t wait!

Six-Eye Jackson

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