Star Trek
2009
Starring: Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Chris Pine, Eric Bana, Simon Pegg
Directed By: J.J. Abrams
First off, Star Wars rules. It always has and always will. I've never been a so-called Trek fan, or Trekkie, as the nerds are often referred to by normal society. I remember my brother, a Trekkie, literally fist fighting from debates which started from theories as to who would beat who in a fight. Usually something like... Chewbacca vs. Warf or Mr. Spock vs. Lando Calrissian. Needless to say, neither of us (my brother or I) were declared the winner. After seeing the new Star Trek, there is a winner....
Star Wars.
Now, I'm not bashing the new Trek at all. It's a really, really good movie, and worldwide, millions of nerds all touched themselves in unison at this movie's release. However, seeing that it's hands down the best Star Trek movie to date, it's far from perfect and far inferior to Star Wars. How can I say that? It's easy... Star Trek has it's flaws and it's apparent to me that no matter how many times you reboot the franchise or start a spin-off series, it's always going to suffer from the same fate... it strangles it's own throat with plot.
In this new re-imagining of the Trek universe, we see the birth (literally) of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and his first steps onto the bridge of the Enterprise. We also see a young Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto) and his dealings with being half-human and half-vulcan as he hits puberty. What this movie is really doing is setting up what will probably become a trilogy or so of J.J. Abrams take on Star Trek. Is that a bad thing? Not at all. It's good to finally see a Star Trek film (or science fiction film) that appeals to the masses (ala Star Wars). The bad thing is, it suffers from the same old plot device that plagued 3 other Star Trek films and countless episodes from each series. What is that plot device you ask?
Time Travel.
Yes, again with Star Trek and time travel. Basically the movie opens with Kirk's dad being thrust into the Captains seat for 12 whole minutes before he dies in a ship battle with the Romulan nutjob Nero (Eric Bana). Here, once again, Eric Bana is in green makeup. You'd think he would have learned his lesson from 2004's Hulk movie, but nope, he's green again. Although this time, his acting ability is treated with a little more respect. So, Nero comes from the future where supposedly a very old Mr. Spock (the real Leonard Nimoy and original Spock) allowed Romulus (Nero's homeworld) to be destroyed. So, he decides to come back through time and destroy Spock's homeworld of Vulcan. Got it? No? Confused? Yes!
Why go back in time and destroy a world with Spock watching? Why not go back and stab Spock's mom in the belly while she was pregnant? Because that would make way too much sense for a villain. So, after destroying Vulcan, Nero decides that he has a boner for blowing up Earth too, so he decides that's his next target and heads on over. What he doesn't take into account is that the young and inexperienced crew of the Starship Enterprise won't allow that to happen. So, as he's attacking Earth, I noticed something... NO ONE WAS FIGHTING BACK! NO ONE! With all the idiots we have on Earth in 2009, you mean to tell me that in 2398 or whenever this happens, we will just lie down and take a pounding? In a post-911 society, we're going to let this alien terrorist try and blow apart our world? Hell no! So apparantly somewhere between the Obama administration and Starfleet forming, Earth became a society of pussies. But I digress...
So, it's up to The Enterprise and it's crew of fledgling officers to take on a galactic threat. How will they ever pull it off? Well, with the help of a time-traveling 129 year old Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Are you confused yet?
So, with the confusing and convoluted time-traveling plot choking you every step of the way, there's actually a lot of fun to be had with this movie. Number one, William Shatner and his amazing hair and limited range of acting is nowhere to be found, which is kind of a breath of fresh air. However, we see a Leonard Nimoy (who appears to have been pulled from the jaws of death to make this movie) return, which was a mixed bag of emotions. The best thing about this movie is the cast. Each youngling (he he he-- Star Wars reference) takes their already established role from a seasoned actor and makes it their own while still paying tribute to the character(s) already established. Chris Pine as Kirk was actually pretty good, but where the film literally shines is with Zachary Quinto as a young Spock. This guy plays Leonard Nimoy as Spock better than Leonard Nimoy does. Quinto, so far known as Sylar on the TV show Heroes, is going places and this is all just the start of a wonderful career for such a talented actor. Also, among the ranks of talent is Karl Urban who plays Doctor "Bones" McCoy. Urban IS a young Dr. McCoy and totally embodies the role. However, with as much screentime devoted to the main three (Kirk, Spock, & Bones), a lot of actors fall to the wayside.... Namely, Simon Pegg as Montgomery Scott or Scotty.
Simon Pegg is a great actor and totals probably 5 minutes of screentime. Sure, this is the origins of the classic Enterprise crew, but come on... Scotty was essential, and to only showcase him for like 5 minutes is insulting. Especially to Simon Pegg who stole each scene he was in. The rest of the cast were good, which was this movies strongest aspect. They "clicked" together just like the original cast, which was great to see.
The script, apart from the suprisingly great dialogue, was mediocre at best. Sorry, but the over-used time traveling plot killed it for me. When one of the main characters refers to what's going on as "an alternate reality", we have a problem. I know you Trekkies think I'm being harsh, but I'm not. Had the whole time traveling plot been removed (seeing as it's been done to death with Trek), this would have been an epic Trek masterpiece. Instead, it only felt epic in parts. At one part, I even expected Doc Brown (from Back to the Future) to run out of nowhere and yell: "GREAT SCOTT!"
However, where the script failed, the casting and directing excelled. Abrams, a reported Star Wars fan (not Trek by the way), admitted to not being a fan. It shows because this Star Trek film is the first tolerable one since The Wrath of Khan. Borrowing from his love of Star Wars, he adds little nuances to his version that really take the nerd out of Trek and make it watchable. Long gone are the simple and lame space battles. Added are epic and sweeping shots of space, which according to Star Trek is the Final Frontier. Throw in real world physics (like no sound in space) and you've got the first semi-believable Star Trek movie ever.
The special fx are really good, as should be expected, as is the alien makeup. The production quality of everything in this film felt like a scaled down Star Wars set in our own universe, which is what I always thought of Star Trek. That's not a bash, just an observation. However, everything is done with taste and style that respects the original TV show and movies. Somewhere Gene Roddenberry looked down and saw this movie and touched himself out of jealousy. It's like you're watching Star Trek for the first time, but you get the "inside jokes". Within the first 10 minutes, you get to see a wreckless 10 year-old Kirk steal his step-dad's car while a Beatie Boys song plays, so you know it's geared more toward the world we know and not the one that could be (see original show).
So, overall, this is a really good Star Trek movie. However, no matter how good a Trek movie can be, it just will never hold the same for me that Star Wars does. I respect Trek and like it as far as I allow myself to do so, but it has never felt epic or had those same qualities that make Star Wars so great. Mind you, Star Wars and Star Trek fans will always be at odds, but with the release of the "new" Star Trek, I think Star Wars fans just got something that they can appreciate about Trek without having to punch a Trekkie out over a snide Wookie comment.
All in all, good popcorn movie. Best Star Trek movie ever made. Zachary Quinto IS Mr. Spock. 'Nuff said.
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