Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Star Trek Review

I went to see Star Trek with my old son this weekend. Over all I give it a A-. It was a good film and one I will probably see again. The plotting was pretty weak but it just didn't matter. The characters rang true and the overall concept was good enough.

Kirk - Kirk comes across young, very young. Not sure I would have entrusted the Federation's latest starship in his hands. But he is directly responsible for saving Earth. There are occasional flashes of Shatner's Kirk so I am willing to wait until the next film to see how he works out.

Spock - Looks good, doesn't sound like Nimoy but definitely got Spock's mannerism. I buy the added emotionalism based on the original pilot of Star Trek. (Spock smiled in there

McCoy - Urban really nail this one down. Definitely channeling the original here. The one McCoy-Spock exchange they had in the film was also note perfect.

Scotty - More funny and more grim at the same time. Has a rougher start the original Scotty but Simon Pegg nearly steals every scene his in. His little companion is pretty good as well.

Sulu - The sword fight (not really giving anything hear) was cool. It was surprised how well it played out. Didn't get much character development so we will see in the sequel how the new Sulu plays out.

Uhura - the original was good but under utilized, they made the new Uhura a stronger presence and gave here an interesting new role too boot. Some people have expressed disbelief but I think it will work especially in light of some of the events in the film.

Chekov - Very different than the original. I think the new role can work but like Sulu it will sequels to see if this character gets his due.

Security Officer Olsen - Color coded red on the monitors. All you need to know about his story.

Christopher Pike - Bruce Greenwood projects a strong presence as the Enterprise's original captain. His speech to Kirk about joining Starfleet I thought was very good.

Enterprise - I liked it, the iBridge I think will become as dated as the original bridge but it works for now. Engineering has replaced jefferies tubes and crawlways with a maze of piping.

Plot - Doesn't drag down the film but man writers need read the plausibility manual for the sequel.

I kinda was disappointed that the plot involved saving Earth at one point. Because this means the sequel will be about ... God. You don't believe me?

STtMP - God and Earth, the first one was a twofer.
ST 2 - Neither really which probably why it is considered the best.
ST3 - Life after Death, God of course
ST4 - Earth again.
ST5 - God
ST6 - War between the Federation and the Klingons is averted. Probably why it is consider the 2nd best with the original Crew.
Generations - About the quest for Paradise God again
First Contact - Saving Earth from the Borg.
Insurection - The quest for immortality, God again
Nemesis - Earth yet again.

In the end the characters are what carry this film and they do so triumphantly over the goal-line. I haven't feel so pumped after a film since I saw Fellowship of the Rings. I really want to be able to sit down next week and watch the next episode of Star Trek with these guys in it instead of 2 to 3 years form now. The only redeeming thing about the wait will be that Chris Pine will be older perhaps look more like a seasoned Starship Captain.

1 comment:

James Maliszewski said...

I find myself wishing they'd been a bit more bold in their reboot. As it is, they just played around the edges and the result is, in my curmudgeonly opinion, a movie that's at once too free with its rejection of the past and too wedded to what has gone before. I guess what bugs me is that they had an opportunity here to rid themselves of some of the conceptual baggage of the old series/movies (such as the dependence on bad science/techno-babble) but they instead saw it as a chance to deal with dramatic baggage. As summertime popcorn, action sci-fi film it's very well done, I think. As the reboot of a beloved sci-fi series, I think it's far too timid than it needed to be.