星际迷航是全部设定在同一个虚构宇宙中的六代电视科幻电视系列剧，11部电影、上百部小说、电视游戏以及其他虚构作品，该宇宙是由吉恩·罗登贝瑞（Gene Roddenberry）于1960年代初期到中期所创造。它描述了一个乐观的未来世界，在那时人类已经战胜了地球上的疾病、种族、贫穷、偏执与战争。主角们探索银河系，寻找新世界并且与新的文明相遇，同时也帮助散播和平与理解。《星际旅行》是凡兔影院科幻娱乐界史上最受欢迎的名字之一，也是电视史上最受欢迎的系列电视系列剧之一。

ARENA: Movies: 'Trek' And J.J. Abrams Mind-Meld

It may lack the existential dread of a bona-fide sci-fi classic, but 'Star Trek Into Darkness,' the 12th feature based on a television show canceled 45 years ago, is certainly one lavish pop confection. Noisy, frenetic, grandiose and essentially a soap opera, director J.J. Abrams's second contribution to the franchise has everything, including romance: Never before have Capt. James T. Kirk and his Vulcan antagonist, Mr. Spock, seemed so very much in love.

Illogical, Spock might say. Perhaps. But the unutterable affection between the two is an indication of why Mr. Abrams's cheeky approach has thus far worked so well. Even when it lampooned various trademarks of the original series -- Mr. Spock's emotion-free personality, Kirk's cowboy inclinations, the bromance that dare not speak its name -- Mr. Abrams's 2009 'Star Trek' was reverential. Likewise, 'Into Darkness,' which trades in the same tropes, boasts characters that are beginning to look like very respectful caricatures, and asks where else can Mr. Abrams possibly go. (Yes, yes, 'Where no man has gone . . .' etc., etc.)

'Into Darkness' doesn't really have to go anywhere. Villainy comes to call. The Enterprise has returned to Earth from a planet-saving mission to a volcanic world where Kirk, once again, disobeyed the Federation's Prime Directive (i.e., no interference with the normal development of an alien civilization). He has been duly turned in by the officious Mr. Spock, who fails to understand his captain's froth when Kirk is demoted and his ship taken away.

In London, where St. Paul's squats reassuringly amid a forest of CGI 'Blade Runner' buildings, evil is afoot. A suicide bombing has brought together the Federation brass, but it's only a ruse: Having gotten them all in one place, the seemingly invincible, genetically modified archvillain John Harrison (an imperious Benedict Cumberbatch) launches a lethal attack and a determined agenda of revenge.

The Abrams 'Star Treks' are 'prequels' to the original series created by Gene Roddenberry, which hit the NBC airwaves in 1966, and was gone by the middle of 1969. It took 10 years, but what eventually ensued was a veritable meteor shower of sequels, series and spinoffs. The stroke of cynical genius in the 2009 'Star Trek' screenplay by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (who also wrote 'Into Darkness' with Damon Lindelof) was having the original Mr. Spock change the past, providing the younger Enterprisers a destiny clear of historical imperatives. This relieved Mr. Abrams and his crew of the need to conform to a time-space continuum set up by 10 previous movies and four TV shows. It also deprived Trekkies the opportunity to scream 'gotcha' every time the new movies violated continuity. They don't seem to have minded.

But again, this is because the new 'Star Trek' mixes mischief with respect, and spot-on casting. Chris Pine makes the roguish James Tiberius Kirk a charismatic swashbuckler, always willing to bend a rule. Mr. Spock is played, blessedly, by the drily funny Zachary Quinto. Zoe Saldana is a smolderingly businesslike Uhura. A newcomer to the cast is Alice Eve as science officer Carol Marcus, who incites Mr. Spock's jealousy and Kirk's libido. The others are equally well used, and while the action is often electric, it's the relationships that matter. That, and a lippy regard for a cultural legacy.

'Sometimes I want to rip the bangs off his head,' Kirk says to Mr. Spock's on-again/off-again girlfriend, Uhura, who is having her own problems with the Vulcan. ('Are you guys fighting?' Kirk asks her, breathlessly. 'What's that even like?') Revealing that the half-human Mr. Spock actually has emotions is a device as old as 'Star Trek' itself; 'Spock Cries,' at this point, feels less fresh than 'Garbo Speaks.' But Hollywood makes movies for children, and nothing better represents the comfort of the oft-told fairy tale than 'Star Trek,' even in IMAX 3-D.

《星际迷航》:星际迷的又一场视觉盛宴

不同于其他经典科幻片，它可能并没有存在主义的恐惧感。改编自45年前被取消的电视节目，《星际迷航2：暗黑无界》作为该系列的第12集，注定是一道迎合大众口味的“甜品”。喧闹，狂热，场面宏大，尽管本质上只是一部肥皂剧，但导演J.J.艾布拉姆斯(J.J. Abrams)为这个系列拍摄的第二部电影即拥有了一切元素，包括“浪漫”：在此之前，舰长詹姆斯?柯克(James T. Kirk)和他来自瓦肯星球(Vulcan)的反对者斯波克先生(Mr. Spork)之间，从未出现过一丝“基情”。

斯波克也许会说，这不符合逻辑。或许吧。但两者之间难以言传的情感正显示了导演艾布拉姆斯圆滑拍摄手法的成功之处。尽管“嘲讽”了原版的各种标志性特征──斯波克“感情绝缘体”的个性，柯克的牛仔倾向，两人无处不在的“基情”──艾布拉姆斯于2009年拍摄的第一部《星际迷航》依然忠于原着。同样，《星际迷航2：暗黑无界》使用了相同的卖点，开始把电影角色塑造成受人尊敬的漫画人物，同时也让我们看看艾布拉姆斯还能有什么新花样？（是的，是的，“他还可以做一些之前从未有人做过的......”）

《星际迷航2：暗黑无界》英文名直译是“进入黑暗”，但其实舰队并没有真正去任何地方，坏事就自己找上门了。返回地球的“企业号”(Enterprise)刚执行完一个拯救火山星球的任务，在那里柯克舰长再一次违背了联邦舰队的头条法则（不能干扰外星文明的正常发展）。他被爱管闲事的斯波克给举报了，而斯波克也并不理解当柯克被降级，而他的“企业号”被接管时的无奈。

联邦舰队总部静静地坐落于伦敦一片由CGI电脑技术制作的“刀锋战士”风格的建筑群里，邪恶正在其中酝酿。联邦舰队高层正针对一次自杀性爆炸开会，但这只是一个陷阱：为了把他们一网打净。基因改造后，看似无敌的大反派约翰?哈里森(John Harrison)（傲慢版的本尼迪克特?康伯巴奇(Benedict Cumberbatch)，英版《神探夏洛克》的扮演者）对其发动了一场致命袭击以及一系列有预谋的复仇行动。

艾布拉姆斯版的两部《星际迷航》是吉恩?罗登贝瑞(Gene Roddenberry)原着的前传。原着曾在1966年到1969年间在NBC电视台播放。10年的时间最终催生出了如流星雨一般的前传，续集和衍生产品。玩世不恭的2009电影版《星际迷航》的编剧是罗伯托?奥奇(Roberto Orci)和艾里克斯?库兹曼(Alex Kurtzman)（他也同达蒙?林德洛夫(Damon Lindelof)一起写了《星际迷航2：暗黑无界》），这个新系列电影让原版斯波克回到过去，让年轻的“企业号”船员们认识到历史命运的必然性。这直接省去了艾布拉姆斯和他团队为了符合前10集电影和4部电视剧所设立的时间统一体概念的麻烦。这也让《星际迷航》影迷们(Trekkies)没有机会在新系列电影中逮到有损连贯性的破绽。他们貌似也不介意如此的改变。

再次强调，新系列的成功是因为它虽然混合了新元素但仍忠于原着，并进行了精准的选角。克里斯?派恩(Chris Pine)把捣蛋的柯克舰长演绎成了魅力非凡的“混蛋”，他永远不按常理出牌。感谢上帝，斯波克的扮演者是冷酷风趣的扎克瑞?昆图(Zachary Quinto)。佐伊?索尔达娜(Zoe Saldana)扮演了慢热商务版的乌胡拉(Uhura)。新加入者是爱丽丝?伊芙(Alice Eve)扮演的科学员卡罗尔?马库斯(Carol Marcus)，她在影片中挑起了斯波克的嫉妒心还有柯克的情欲。其他元素的运用也十分合理，打斗虽然震撼，但是人与人之间的情感才是核心，除此之外，还有针对一个文化传奇的适当调侃。

柯克舰长对斯波克分分合合的女友乌胡拉说，“有时候我真恨不得把他的刘海从脑袋上扯下来”。乌胡拉对这个瓦肯星人（指斯波克）也有不少意见。（“你们俩是正在吵架么？”柯克屏住呼吸地问她，“你们俩吵架会是什么感觉？”）这段对话揭示了半人类斯波克（斯波克父亲是瓦肯星人，母亲是地球人）其实是有感情的，而这种感情和《星际迷航》自身一样久远；针对这个卖点，“斯波克哭了”听上去并不会比“飞船(Garbo)说话了”更让人耳目一新。好莱坞毕竟是为孩子们拍摄电影的地方，即便是换了IMAX 3D版本，也没有什么可以比《星际迷航2：暗黑无界》故事本身更能让大家重温儿时经典了。