J.J. Abrams

J.J. Abrams: 'One of the most fun aspects of the TV show, as a kid always loving it, was this team...in many ways that show was sort of the C.S.I. of its time.'

Zachary Quinto: 'There is an optimism that lives in the heart of this film and in the heart of the franchise that I think is a really great thing for us to be able to share with the world right now.'

A thrill ride, and a gripping one: plausibility-straining, predictable at times, but pulse-pounding all the same.

It's this Star Trek's greatest stroke of genius to conceive of Kirk and Spock as two rebels looking for a cause...

Part of what makes Lost unique is its sprawling and diverse ensemble; part of it is the show's fearless embrace of 'genre' (read science-fiction) trappings without sacrificing full-blooded character arcs and a novelistic frame.

As a fast-food pitchwoman once asked, 'Where’s the beef?'

Let's be honest: the b.s. sci-fi plot is so much empty machinery, which becomes steadily more apparent as the film wends its way toward a heavy-metal climax that's narratively and emotionally questionable.

Smart or...dumb? Yes, and...fun to hang around with for a couple of hours.

[SPOILER-FREE] Can be dimwittedly obvious and self-plagiarizing, with little of real-world consequence and less that’s new to say [but it's still] a fun-filled adventure at the movies...

[SPOILER-FREE REVIEW:] If Abrams has topped himself, it's by making a Star Wars film that's even more of a multiplex-filling Hollywood widget than his first.