Capt. Kirk, Spock and Dr. McCoy show us just how this movie will make audiences feel. Cartoon courtesy of Kate Beaton.People who generally shy away from overly convoluted science fiction might think this film is simply not for them. In addition, hardcore Trekkies seem all the more ready to dismiss this film as not being “real” Star Trek.
I’m going to say this as clearly as I can. You are both wrong, and both of you should see this movie as soon as possible.
Directed by rising sci-fi star J.J. Abrams, this movie is, in short, the chronicle of James T. Kirk’s (Christopher Pine) beginnings as the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise. It also tells the story of how the rest of the crew came to be as well. On the side, we have the story of Nero, a Romulan miner who takes it upon himself to exact revenge against a race of aliens known as the Vulcans, whom Nero holds responsible for the destruction of his home planet Romulus, specifically a very intelligent Vulcan known as Spock (Zachary Quinto). It soon becomes the Enterprise’s mission to stop Nero from doing any further damage to the rest of their galaxy, especially Earth. It’s worth noting that this film is set in an alternate universe from the main one.
OK, first off, the special effects? Absolutely amazing. The fact that the cinematography is so good to begin with pretty much enhances this. That may sound a little redundant when discussing a movie written by the guys who handled Transformers, but still, they were incredible. Everything, from the space dive to the U.S.S. Kelvin charging towards Nero’s ship to Sulu using his “combat skills” to kick some Romulan ass, looks streamlined. Even the bridge of the Enterprise (and no, I don’t care that it has the “Apple Store” look. Actually, I think it kind of suits it). It helps a whole bunch that the special effects really shine during the action scenes, which are quite plentiful in this re-imagining.
Speaking of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, honestly, the script isn’t the best it could be. To put it frankly, if it weren’t for Abrams’ skills as a director, this film probably wouldn’t be making as much money at the box office as it has been. The decisions they made while writing some scenes aren’t too bad though. Some of the time travel stuff opens up a plothole or two, but that’s forgivable since we’re dealing with Star Trek science here. Actually, most moviegoers should be thanking them for doing that, because it helped shed this franchise of the long, boring, low-budget continuity that had dragged down previous recent Trek movies. The relationship between Uhura and Spock doesn’t really go anywhere, although it does serve to develop their characters a bit more. My main issue, however, was with some of the lines. Hearing Uhura say “captain” in a stern tone every time Kirk gave an order grated on me a bit, and it wouldn’t have hurt for Sulu and Scotty to get a few more lines. Luckily, the few lines that they have make up for that by working so well in their given scenes.
I’m going to say this as clearly as I can. You are both wrong, and both of you should see this movie as soon as possible.
Directed by rising sci-fi star J.J. Abrams, this movie is, in short, the chronicle of James T. Kirk’s (Christopher Pine) beginnings as the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise. It also tells the story of how the rest of the crew came to be as well. On the side, we have the story of Nero, a Romulan miner who takes it upon himself to exact revenge against a race of aliens known as the Vulcans, whom Nero holds responsible for the destruction of his home planet Romulus, specifically a very intelligent Vulcan known as Spock (Zachary Quinto). It soon becomes the Enterprise’s mission to stop Nero from doing any further damage to the rest of their galaxy, especially Earth. It’s worth noting that this film is set in an alternate universe from the main one.
OK, first off, the special effects? Absolutely amazing. The fact that the cinematography is so good to begin with pretty much enhances this. That may sound a little redundant when discussing a movie written by the guys who handled Transformers, but still, they were incredible. Everything, from the space dive to the U.S.S. Kelvin charging towards Nero’s ship to Sulu using his “combat skills” to kick some Romulan ass, looks streamlined. Even the bridge of the Enterprise (and no, I don’t care that it has the “Apple Store” look. Actually, I think it kind of suits it). It helps a whole bunch that the special effects really shine during the action scenes, which are quite plentiful in this re-imagining.
Speaking of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, honestly, the script isn’t the best it could be. To put it frankly, if it weren’t for Abrams’ skills as a director, this film probably wouldn’t be making as much money at the box office as it has been. The decisions they made while writing some scenes aren’t too bad though. Some of the time travel stuff opens up a plothole or two, but that’s forgivable since we’re dealing with Star Trek science here. Actually, most moviegoers should be thanking them for doing that, because it helped shed this franchise of the long, boring, low-budget continuity that had dragged down previous recent Trek movies. The relationship between Uhura and Spock doesn’t really go anywhere, although it does serve to develop their characters a bit more. My main issue, however, was with some of the lines. Hearing Uhura say “captain” in a stern tone every time Kirk gave an order grated on me a bit, and it wouldn’t have hurt for Sulu and Scotty to get a few more lines. Luckily, the few lines that they have make up for that by working so well in their given scenes.
Captain Kirk (Christopher Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) get in a bit of a scrap here. Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
The performances in this film are great as well. What’s very admirable about all of them is that each of the main cast’s performances manages to stay true to their respective characters, without being imitations of their predecessors. For example, Quinto definitely channels Leonard Nimoy in his performance as Spock, but he puts a much more serious spin on the character. While it was probably tough for Pine to turn Kirk into a bad boy, he manages to do it while keeping the character so recognizably Kirk. Everyone else was pretty perfect as well. Zoe Saldana captures the spirit of Uhura, Simon Pegg adds a welcome comedic twist to the character of Scotty, and John Cho does a great job of re-inventing the character of Sulu entirely. The best performances are definitely Karl Urban, who captures the essence of Bones oh so perfectly, Bruce Greenwood, who made an excellent Pike, and Anton Yelchin, who plays a funny and lovable take on Chekov. Meanwhile, the weakest performance was certainly Eric Bana, for his performance of the Romulan miner and known whack-job Nero. His character just seemed so much like generic action movie bad guy, although the screenwriters might be more to blame for that than he is.
After all is said and done, this is the question of the day: does this movie appeal to people who have never seen anything Star Trek before, while keeping the older Trekkies about the hypothetical Enterprise?
I’d say, yes. I’m not sure about commercials calling it “this summer’s Iron Man” or “the next Star Wars.” It does, however, have all the makings of a great early summer blockbuster, and the events that separate it from previous Trek continuity ought to keep the old-fashioned fans satisfied that this film doesn’t mess with what they’ve known about the series for decades now.
It is logical to recommend this film for geeks and non-geeks alike, Captain (image courtesy of Paramount Pictures).
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