So I saw 'Star Trek'

This is a prime example of Hollywood's métier: movie magic that transports you to a fantastical world. In this case: 24th century earth. In this reboot of the legendary Star Trek franchise, a Romulan warlord is bent on destroying the home planets of both the Vulcans and humans in retaliation of the annihilation of his home planet. In a parallel storyline we get to witness the early days of leading protagonists James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto), and, as the movie progresses, also the assembling of the classic crew of the USS Enterprise.

Kirk is brash with a knack for getting into trouble --fast-- while Spock is his mirror image, and because of that they're continually at loggerheads. Both, however, are exceptionally gifted. And this is the part of the movie I like most, the part that holds my interest, i.e. when the movie relates about Kirk and Spock, when we are given a glimpse of their world. You get to know them. When the two finally see past their differences and team up to save the day, you'd have the feeling that they're the Keith/ Jagger of the USS Enterprise: they get things done and make things work.

And therefore it is a bit unfortunate that this aspect of the story was not fleshed out some more. We do get a picture of the main characters and the world they live in, but we could have been given a fuller and richer impression if only less screen time was dedicated to action scenes. What we have instead is a tonal feel that is more akin to Starship Troopers (1997) than Alien (1979). Instead of a reboot, Star Trek would've perhaps benefited more from a redefinition.

(Running time: 127 minutes)

So I saw 'Drag Me To Hell'

Director Sam Raimi uses every trick in the book, old and proven (the what's-behind-the-closed-door gimmick) and original and yucky (involving amongst others a set of false teeth), to induce fright and several intentional guffaws as we follow the protagonist's plight as she tries to fight off a diabolical gypsy curse.

Now there are two kinds of people: those who believe in ghosts and those who won't admit it, but rest assured that both will get a kick out of this scare fare.

(Running time: 99 minutes)

So I saw 'Terminator Salvation'

The Terminator movies are one of the most brilliant and enduring series ever committed on celluloid and you can't help but getting excited whenever a new instalment comes to your local cinema.

In this fourth instalment, Terminator Salvation, which assumes some familiarity with the Terminator saga, we leap into the future where the war against the machines has begun and is raging full-on. The messianic John Connor (Christian Bale) has taken on his role as rebel leader of the Resistance, which comprises a core body of trained militiamen that report to a roving HQ, and pockets of rebels scattered around the world --a post-apocalypse world depicted as war-torn, bleak, and where humans are no longer top dog on the food chain.

John Connor's world is violent, harsh and quiet, with the silence disrupted only by explosive sounds of warfare. Survival is the only thing on the minds of survivors and everything is geared towards that end. There's no laughter, and conversation is sparse at best. Survivors battle the machines, though they also prey amongst themselves.

Unlike in the three preceding Terminator movies, here the machines have the upper hand, however the mood and tone of the earlier movies are much preserved in Terminator Salvation.

Such is the brilliance of the series; it's foolproof. Any director worth his or her salt can pick up the story where it was left, mesh it with James Cameron's template, and make a decent film. McG, the director of this movie, has apparently opted to turn Terminator Salvation into an action-packed war movie. The pace is frantic and there are no breathers to establish a larger degree of intimacy with key characters and the environment. In a perfect world it'd be James Cameron back at the helm, but that is not to be.

(Running time: 115 minutes)