New Star Trek leaves me missing Shatner

AFTER enthusiastic badgering from my friends, I saw the new Star Trek trailer this week.

And ... well, let's just say that I hope JJ Abrams is keeping his powder dry (and drops the car bit).

That's not to say it wasn't good - it was - but I can't help feel that we deserved more.

That goes for one bit of it in particular - the Kirk, Spock, McCoy bit.

For me Kirk is the key because William Shatner's performance was so distinctive. I've seen the pictures and heard the interviews but I still need convincing that Chris Pine can pull it off.

He's going up against William Shatner for god's sake! The Shat! Mr Tambourine Man! A living legend who has defied interesting cadence choices to build a career spanning five decades.

No matter what you think of him as a man, he is Captain Kirk and was the centre point of the show and the films. That's a crucial burden to carry for someone who looks like 90210 would be too much for him.

Spock - because of the character's nature - would be easier to play but seems at risk of becoming Sylar lite given the footage in the trailer, while McCoy - Bones, the classic hand-wringer - is virtually invisible.

As proved over 70-odd episodes and the films, Shatner had such wonderful chemistry with De Forest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy that when it worked, it really was lightning in a bottle. (That's despite Shatner being the type of guy who would crap on the last piece of pizza, just so no-one else could have it, allegedly)

Spock was logic, McCoy was heart and Kirk was action - making a decision and charging in like the glory-hogging, alien beauty kissing, strange ... talking ... and ... singing ... swine he was.

Obviously the current crew of the Enterprise are just starting their voyages together, but I have been burned with too many films in the past to rave over them.

I want to be queueing outside the cinema on day one of its release, I want to be cheering at the end, I want to have faith - but I don't yet.

Prove me wrong JJ.