There are some spoilers in this review (but you have to highlight them). It was my #1 most anticipated movie of the year.PLOT: A chronicle of the early days of James T. Kirk and his fellow USS Enterprise crew members.
THE GOOD: J.J. Abrams. Abrams continues to show us that he has the Midas touch with Star Trek. I thoroughly believe the man craps gold every morning before he heads to the studio. I think he's been absolutely flawless since Alias came out and I only want to see more. I want him to take every TV show ever created and make a movie out of it. Do it now! His vision of the Star Trek franchise is so smart and detailed. I love what he has done to the universe. I loved it so much that I saw it a second time the day after my first viewing, and I'll most likely be seeing it again this weekend. There is always something going on on-screen, whether it's lens flare (see THE BAD) or an extra walking some papers around in the background.
Chris Pine. I'm so glad Chris Pine doesn't act anything like William Shatner did. He chose to take more of a Harrison Ford ala Indiana Jones or Han Solo approach to the character and it works. He made Captain Kirk his own character and I like it more than what I've seen of Shatner's performance. And just like Ford, I think Pine is set for Hollywood stardom. If you don't have stock in this guy, buy some now. I also want to mention that the rest of the acting in the movie was just okay. All of the actors were fine choices for their roles, but the performances were so-so. I thought Zachary Quinto was alright as Spock, Eric Bana was decent as Nero, and Simon Pegg was good as Scotty. I think the better performances came from Karl Urban (or Mr. Frowny as I like to call him) as Dr. McCoy, Bruce Greenwood (watch Nowhere Man) as Captain Pike, and my second favorite performance of the whole movie was Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov who made me LOL.
Sound effects. Upon my second viewing of Star Trek, I looked at more of the technical aspects of the film. The thing that impressed me the most was the sound design of the film. The old Star Trek beeps and alarms are used in appropriate manners. The sounds of ships going in and out of warp were my favorite parts to listen to. I looked up who did the sound effects when I got home and I was a little surprised to see Ben Burtt's name on the list. Not because he's a bad sound designer, but because he's also been known for his work in the Star Wars universe. Master sound designer Burtt is the genius behind the sound effects in all of the Star Wars films, all of the Indiana Jones films, and last year's WALL•E.
Visual effects. I'm surprised that Industrial Light & Magic was not the only company used to create the special effects in Star Trek. All of the visuals felt very ILM-ish. There is a more real feel to Star Trek then the recent Star Wars films though. I'm glad Abrams avoided shooting only against bluescreen and greenscreen unlike a certain someone we all know. All of the explosions and implosions looked great. Highlight to read spoilers: One of my favorite sequences in the movie was when Ambassador Spock relays future events to Kirk through mind meld. The way the camera moves in and out of the scenes, the changes in dialogue speed and volume, and the visual effects used together composed an awesome concatenation. It's the way I had imagined Harry Potter's trips into Dumbledore's Pensieve would look like.
Pacing. Star Trek moves at a fast pace right from the beginning of the movie. You are immediately thrown into the action and it feels like it never stops. The 2 hour and 7 minute film just flies right by.
Starting over. Highlight to read spoilers: So, some Star Trek fans have expressed disappointment to see Abrams take an entirely different and new route for the original series. I can understand their frustration, but they're going to need to start viewing this as a completely new series. The time traveling that occurs in the movie is a great excuse to create an alternate original Star Trek timeline. That doesn't excuse him from making Uhura and Spock lovers, but hey, there's gotta be a little McRomance in the picture. I like how all of this give Abrams the excuse to do whatever he wants with the series now.
THE BAD: Cheesy bits. Before I take off on this subject, I want you to know that all three of these negative points are very, very minor. I am really nitpicking at the film coming up with these small flaws. That being said, there are some cheesy moments in the film. Highlight to read: I think the most painful for me was when Kirk slaps Spock on the arm and says something like, "See? We're getting to know each other better already." Quinto turns around and gives Kirk a raised eyebrow. It's a really bad moment in the film. I also didn't like when they seemed to force old famous lines from the Star Trek series. Stuff like Scotty saying "I'm giving her all she's got, Captain!" and Spock delivering the closing monologue.
Lens flare. Even J.J. Abrams agrees that the lens flare effects in the film are a bit excessive. He says, "I know there are certain shots where even I watch and think, 'Oh that's ridiculous, that was too many.'" I was thinking the same thing to myself during certain scenes in the movie. He later mentions, "I want [to create] the sense that, just off camera, something spectacular is happening." I like the effect and the reasoning Abrams comes up with, but it was just used too much. A fun drinking game for this movie would be to drink whenever you see lens flare. Guaranteed drunkenness within the first 30 minutes.
Leonard Nimoy. By know, you've heard that Leonard Nimoy is in the film, but I am going to continue in invisible text for this section of my review anyway. Highlight to read: I don't like how much they used Leonard Nimoy in the film. I completely agree with using him at all, but he seemed to play too big of a role in the movie. Also, I believe Nimoy's acting ability has diminished substantially since Star Trek VI back in 1991. The guy is almost 80 years old and he certainly looks and acts it. I wonder if he'll be any good in Fringe next season. Once again, totally loved seeing him and I understand that he fit the story, but I think he was relied on too much.
THE END: Star Trek is easily my favorite movie of the year so far. There is so much to look at and to listen to that most Trekkies should be pleased, and yet-to-be-converted fans should enjoy. Abrams has succeeded in making a Star Trek movie for non-Star Trek fans. I highly recommend going to see this in the theatre, preferably at a digital showing as soon as possible. I'm looking forward to seeing it for a third time this weekend.
DISCUSS: Were you a big Star Trek fan before seeing this movie? What was your favorite ST movie before this one? Did you like all of the new actors? Would you have liked to have seen William Shatner in the film? What is your favorite film of 2009 so far? How many times could you watch Star Trek again in the theatre? Does the changes in storyline and timeline from the original series bother you, or do you think it takes anything away from the film? What was your favorite scene? Do you like any of Abrams' other work?
i loved simon pegg as scotty, and i liked the use of some of the cheesy old lines as an homage to the original series, since they did change a lot of other things. it was my favorite movie of the year so far also
ReplyDeleteAwesome review as usual Cam.
ReplyDeleteI won't be able to see it any time soon but maybe it will be out on BD when I return.
I think it was kinda messed up that they let the original spock guy do a cameo and not Shatner. But then after reading your review it sounded like it was much more than a cameo. Still they should have paid some hommage to the guy for all his work on the original show/movies
Thanks again for the great review.
I wish there could have been a Shatner cameo as well, but I guess he got too greedy and wanted to be in the movie as much as Nimoy was, which just didn't make any sense. From Wikipedia:
ReplyDelete"Orci and Kurtzman wrote a scene for William Shatner, where old Spock gives his younger self a recorded message by Kirk from the previous timeline. "It was basically a Happy Birthday wish knowing that Spock was going to go off to Romulus, and Kirk would probably be dead by the time," and it would have transistioned into Shatner reciting "Where no man has gone before". But Shatner wanted to share Nimoy's major role, and did not want a cameo, despite his character's death in Star Trek Generations. He suggested the film canonize the novels where Kirk is resurrected, but Abrams decided if his character was accompanying Nimoy's, it would have become a film about the resurrection of Kirk, and not about introducing the new versions of the characters. Nimoy disliked the character's death in Generations, but felt resurrecting Kirk would also be detrimental to this film.
You never know. Maybe he'll make a cameo in the next one.
You know, I never had you down as a Trekkie...I always thought you were a bit too pseudo-cool/emo for such a thing.
ReplyDeleteI don't like the original series, DS9, Voyager or Enterprise. I like all the movies, though (even parts 1, 3 and 5!!), and TNG was some of the best dramatic TV of the late 80s/early 90s. Does this make me a trekkie?
I've probably seen 75% of TNG, 25% of the original series, and 10% of the rest of the series with Enterprise being the most impressive of the later three. I'm pretty sure I've seen all the movies, but only a few were memorable to me. I wouldn't say I'm a Trekkie. Maybe a neo-Trekkie because I like this new take on the series a whole lot.
ReplyDelete"...I always thought you were a bit too pseudo-cool/emo for such a thing." You think I'm some form of cool! Thank you. As for emo... well, I did cut my wrists while watching the film.