The plot centers on an act of revenge that germinates over many years before being carried out. Time travel involving the older and younger versions of Spock (Nimoy plays the older Spock), menacing space creatures and planetary destruction give the film some diverting moments, but the story, which involves death on a massive scale, is curiously unmoving. This Star Trek is built more for humor and action, not for tragedy.

The lack of a compelling villain doesn't help the film. Eric Bana plays a Romulan who comes from the future to settle an old score, but watching him take on the young Enterprise crew is a passive experience where it should be tense and gripping. A better villain would have made for a better movie.

The Enterprise crew mostly look to be in their early 20s, tops, which lets the characters have fun but gives us a scenario and cast lacking gravitas. Although the young actors do a decent job of embodying the well-known crew, it's Greenwood and Nimoy—both veteran actors—who give the film its best moments.

Star Trek is not a profound movie. The pseudo-spiritual dialogue in the TV series and some of the earlier films is decidedly lacking this go-round, but the lack of that ponderous speechifying does not help the movie, which ends up being easily digested but rather disposable.

Still, there's enough energy here to justify a sequel or several—the film has "blockbuster" written all over it, and the young cast should get plenty of mileage out of these characters in years to come. But don't confuse energy with import, or even coherence. Star Trek is a fun ride, especially early on, but future installments would do well to at least attempt to be more meaningful, even if the attempts fall flat.

Questions? Concerns? Contact the writer at crosswalkchristian@verizon.net.

CAUTIONS:

• Drugs/Alcohol:  A bar scene includes drinking; two characters share a drink.
• Language/Profanity:  Lord's name taken in vain; teasing/taunting; sexual innuendo; some foul language, including "godd--m."
• Sex/Nudity:  A woman undresses to her bra and panties; brief nudity; two people have sex; some kissing.
• Violence:  Plenty of explosions, reckless driving; fistfights; a doctor repeatedly and forcibly injects a man; sword fighting; a man is run through with a sword; a planet is destroyed; revenge is plotted and carried out; Kirk is chased by angry alien creatures.